An alliance of three major lenders in Egypt is set to lend property developer Misr Italia multimillion of Egyptian pounds, a source with knowledge of the matter told Amwal Al Ghad on Wednesday. The banking alliance will secure a loan worth 712 million Egyptian pounds ($80.2 million) to finance the company's Cairo Business Park project, which will be the first administrative compound in New Cairo district, the source said. As for the banking alliance, the source said it includes the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Bank Audi Egypt, and the Egyptian Gulf Bank (EGB), with the possibility to see one more bank or two keen to join. NBE, the main arranger, will finance 45 percent of the loan; while the two other lenders are still in final board talks to determine the amount of their contribution, the source added. The loan is set to finance around 47.5 percent of the Cairo Business Park project's total investment cost, which amounts to 1.5 billion pounds; while the remaining percentage will be self-financed, the source said. The loan has a nine-year maturity, with a grace and draw-down period of three years, and will be paid pack in six years, the source stated. Cairo Business Park consists of 42 administrative buildings covering 90,000 square metres, while the commercial buildings will cover space of 20,000 square metres, in addition to a car park, a 120-room hotel, a conference hall accommodating 1,000 individuals. It will serve medium-size and large-sized projects.
