United Bank is currently studying participating with a value of EGP 100 million in the syndicated loan arranged by Banque Misr and Bank Audi to finance the establishment of Egyptians Iron Factory in Beni Suef which is owned by Egyptian and Qatari investors. United Bank is ready to participate in the loan tranche, whose value is EGP 750 million while the total value of the loan is EGP 900 million, said Mohamed Ashmawy, chairman of Bank Audi, in the sidelines of Electronic Payments Conference organized by Cairo Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. The 7-year term loan gives a 2-year grace period which is the period needed for the establishment and the repayment installments will be over the remaining 5 years. Ashmawy expected that Islamic banking in Egypt will grow as there is an increasing demand over the Islamic banking products. This growing demand makes many banks ask for Islamic banking licenses, Ashmawy added. Banque Misr is sharing with EGP 750 million and Bank Audi is sharing with EGP 150 million in the loan. Italy's Benelli Group signed earlier this month a contract to supply production lines for the factory including furnaces and equipments. The total cost of the project is EGP 1.2 billion. The factory's production will be available in the market by 2015.
