Qatar National Bank has signed a $1.85 billion five-year syndicated term loan, the largest credit raised for a Middle Eastern bank, the bank said.

The deal was increased twice in syndication from an initial $1.6 billion after a strong top-tier response and after attracting an oversubscription in general syndication.

The deal is the largest loan for a Middle Eastern bank borrower, topping Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's $1.5 billion loan in March, and its 19.5 bps margin also sets a new pricing benchmark for regional bank borrowers.

Banks noted the success of the syndication is further evidence that the Middle East loan market has remained largely untroubled by the liquidity crisis.

The loan was led by bookrunners Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland and was signed on Sept. 11.

QNB is 50 percent owned by the Government of Qatar and 50 percent by private investors through the Doha Stock Exchange.

The bank had an asset base of $20.8 billion at the end of June.

QNB has a long-term bank deposit rating of Aa3 from Moodys and a long term foreign currency rating of A+ by S&P. The State of Qatar, which owns and manages QNB, is rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA- by S&P. - Reuters