Dubai Duty Free Names Banks To Arrange $750m Expansion Loan

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) has picked three banks to arrange a $750 million loan to fund the company’s expansion at the world’s second-busiest airport and improve its capital structure, the retailer said on Wednesday.

The new facility comes three months after DDF, the world’s largest single-airport retailer, negotiated a reduction in pricing on a $1.75 billion loan raised in 2012.

DDF’s new dollar-denominated transaction will be priced at 225 basis points (bps) over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), Wednesday’s statement said. This is 25 bps inside the revised pricing on the dollar tranche of the previous loan.

No lifespan for the facility, which will be arranged by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD and Standard Chartered, was given in the statement.

The loan is structured so that banks can commit to either a conventional tranche or one compliant with Islamic principles, with banks paid an agreed profit rate instead of an interest payment.

DDF was established in 1983 as the sole duty free operator at the departure and arrival areas of all terminals at Dubai International Airport, second only to London Heathrow for the number of passengers handled.