Dubai Islamic Bank facility aims to fund Empower’s development plans in Dubai’s Business Bay area

Empower, the District Cooling services provider, has announced securing a US$127.8 million financing from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), marking the first Islamic financing-facility availed by the company.

The facility has been granted for a five-year period payable over half-yearly instalments to fund Empower’s multi-plant District Cooling network in Dubai’s Business Bay area, the announcement elaborated.

The Business Bay District Cooling network will eventually consist of 350,000 Refrigeration Tonnes (RT) worth of capacity for business, retail and residential buildings across this rapidly expanding neighbourhood, Empower informed.

The DIB funding has reportedly been based on a Mudaraba financing structure and has been provided on a standalone basis.

“The agreement between Empower and Dubai Islamic Bank is an important milestone as this is the first bilateral deal between the two entities,” said Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower, commenting on the agreement. “We are looking forward to our partnership that will support the development of a world-class District Cooling network in the United Arab Emirates.”

Dr Adnan Chilwan, CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank, added: “DIB is on an established growth agenda, successfully executing the next phase of its medium-term strategy. A key component of this phase is alignment to initiatives and entities that are critical to, and support the infrastructural development of Dubai. We view Empower as an organisation integral to the growth and development of the Emirate and welcome its first foray into Islamic finance.”