Dubai, UAE, 5 February 2019: Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the District Cooling services provider, announced that it has secured a syndicated loan of AED 1.5 billion from a group of local, regional and international banks, to finance its new projects, through a Press communiqué.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower (third from left) with co-signatories to the loan

The agreement was signed by Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower and Elissar Antonios CEO, Citibank; Ahmed Al Qassim, Executive Vice President, General Manager Corporate Banking Emirates NBD; Rola Abu Manneh, CEO, UAE Standard Chartered; Ahmed Abdelaal, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Group, Mashreq and Manbir Dhillon, General Manager – Samba Financial Group, Dubai Branch.

According to Empower, the loan will be utilised for expanding capacity and District Cooling infrastructure in various projects, including Jumeirah Village South, International Media Production Zone, Business Bay, Barsha Heights, Deira Waterfront Development and others. The repayments are scheduled to be made in half-yearly installments, the communiqué said.

Bin Shafar stated that banks have significant appetite for businesses with robust performance and, as a result, Empower’s loan was oversubscribed by more than 3.5 times, which clearly demonstrates the confidence that banks have in the business.

Bin Shafar said: “Through financing, international, regional and local banks have contributed to the growth of the District Cooling industry, which is one of the safest industries in terms of risk and investment returns. Promoting the use of sustainable, competitive and safe energy sources is a key objective for us and we have seen a strong response from our partner banks in achieving this objective.”