Sixth of October Development & Investment Company "SODIC" announced the signature of a long-term syndicated facility in the amount of EGP 1.57bn with Arab African International Bank (AAIB) and Banque Misr (BM) to finance the company's West Cairo flagship development SODIC West. The facility will be used to refinance EGP 1.1bn outstanding on the EGP 1.3bn medium-term facility signed in April 2017 and to partially finance the remaining CAPEX on the company's investment portfolio of leasable assets and real estate development projects in SODIC West. The signature of the facility with two of Egypt's leading banks, namely Arab African International Bank (AAIB) and Banque Misr (BM) which acted as co-lead arrangers of the facility agreement, reflects SODIC's credibility as a developer and the banks' confidence in SODIC's ability to deliver on its commitments. This credibility, coupled with SODIC's long-term relationships with Egypt's leading banks, facilitate the company's access to the debt market, supporting our growth endeavours. The facility comes in line with SODIC's goal to prudently increase its leverage to enhance shareholder returns and comes as a testament to SODIC's solid financial performance, strong cash flows, and liquid balance sheet. SODIC's leverage remains low, with bank debt outstanding recorded at EGP 2.4bn on June 30th, 2021, reflecting a debt to equity ratio of 0.4x. Commenting on the transaction, Omar Elhamawy, SODIC's Chief Financial Officer, said: "It is a pleasure to work again with AAIB and Banque Misr on this facility and to renew our long-term strategic relationship with these two leading banks. The facility will allow us to develop our investment portfolio of recurring revenue assets while preserving our cash resources and balance sheet's liquidity to support ongoing operations and pursue growth opportunities."
