RGE, a Singapore-headquartered multinational group of resource-based manufacturing companies, has won the Natural Resources Finance Deal of the Year at the prestigious Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Awards 2024. This comes on the back of RGE’s US$1 billion Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) that was closed in January 2024.
The Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East Awards, held annually since 2014, recognises the most innovative and ground-breaking deals from Sovereign, Corporate, and Financial Institution issuers and borrowers in the Middle East. The selection process involves close examination of the deal size, tenure, structure, and distribution, as well as analysis of the borrower’s background and accessibility to financing.
Patrick Tan, Head of Banking at RGE, said, “This award recognises the high quality execution of our US$1 billion SLL, which was innovatively structured. The SLL includes a US$150 million Murabaha term facility that is AAOIFI[1]-compliant, – a relatively new financing structure in the industry. It marks our inaugural Islamic financing, catalysing our expansion into key regions, including the Middle East, where we are witnessing substantial growth.”
The Middle East is a strategic region for RGE, with Dubai acting as a gateway to RGE’s trade flows to the EMEA region while Singapore is the other gateway to Asia. RGE’s US$1 billion SLL was oversubscribed by 1.4 times and garnered strong support from a consortium of eight Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners (MLABs), including Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Bank of Communications, E.SUN Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Industrial Bank, MUFG, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
Mr Tan added, “We thank our financing partners for their confidence in our growth story and our sustainability journey. We hope to further strengthen our relationships with financial institutions in the Middle East to support the region’s growth in green financing.”
RGE is committed to responsible growth and expansion and has transitioned its financing to SLLs. The US$1 billion SLL will be used to support RGE’s agribusiness operations, growth, and expansion across its diverse product offerings to further contribute to the bioeconomy.
The loan is tied to key performance indicators (KPIs) to enhance engagement with suppliers carrying out independent traceability verification, utilisation of renewable and clean energy sources, and collaboration with NDPE-compliant suppliers.