Sovereign fund Aabar, which bought Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's 25 percent stake in Malaysian group RHB Capital, will get a $1.9 billion loan from ADCB to pay for the deal, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Aabar parent International Petroleum Investment Co obtained the loan from ADCB by using its deposits with the bank as collateral, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It is a three-way deal. ADCB is lending to IPIC and the funds will come back to the bank through Aabar," one of the sources said. The tenure and interest rate was not available.

Aabar agreed in June to pay 10.80 ringgit per share for ADCB's quarter stake in RHB in a $1.9 billion deal. The valuation offered by Aabar effectively stalled a consolidation in Malaysia's banking sector.

The deal was also seen as a means to shore up the capital base of the Abu Dhabi lender, one of the region's most exposed banks to indebted conglomerate Dubai World and hard hit by a surge in provisions.

ADCB, Aabar and IPIC were not available to comment.

The deal closed on September 30 and the funds were transferred to an account in Malaysia in ringgits. ADCB booked a $357 million gain from the stake sale in its second-quarter results.

Aabar and IPIC would face higher financing costs if the deal was funded externally in the current environment, hence the decision to opt for a loan from ADCB, the source said.

Aabar had earlier rejected a financing proposal by an international consortium of banks as being too expensive, sources said in August.

Aabar, taken private by IPIC last year, missed an internal July 31 deadline to complete the deal and was liable to pay interest of 6.5 percent per annum on the delayed payment.

Abu Dhabi entities, accustomed to raising debt freely and seeking loans, have been put on a tight leash in recent months as the wealthy emirate seeks to centralise debt issuance by state-linked firms.

 ADCB is 58 percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, according to Reuters data. Both IPIC and its subsidiary Aabar are heavy allocators of capital in the oil-rich emirate. IPIC, with a mandate to engage in energy investments, took over Spanish company Cepsa  early this year.

Aabar is the largest shareholder in German automaker Daimler and was a cornerstone investor in commodities firm Glencore's IPO this year. - Reuters