Private equity firm Citadel Capital expects to close a $2.2 billion financing related to an Egyptian refinery in the second quarter, company executives said on Tuesday.

Financing for the project, a greenfield refinery in partnership with Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC), will include $900 million from state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

"I think this closing (financing) is going to be marked as one of the largest undertaken by a private equity firm in the region," Ahmed El Houssieny, a managing director at Citadel, said at a conference in Dubai.

"The change in mix of funding providers -- more (reliant)   on development financial institutions as opposed to Western commercial banks -- is going to be the theme for private equity in 2010," he said. – Reuters