ADCB To Buy $122.5m SME Loan Portfolio From Mubadala GE

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has agreed to buy a portfolio of asset financing loans worth Dhs450 million ($122.5 million) from Mubadala GE Capital, it said in a bourse statement on Sunday.

The portfolio, which comprises loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Arab Emirates, will strengthen the bank’s position in a sector described by ADCB’s chief executive Alaa Eraiqat as “a critical component of the UAE economy”.

Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said this month that he expected the contribution of SMEs to the UAE’s gross domestic product to rise to 70 per cent by 2020 from 60 per cent in 2011, helped by a new law designed to foster their development.

Mubadala GE Capital, established in 2010 to provide structured financing to businesses, is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi state investment firm Mubadala and General Electric.