QNB Group raises $2.5bn term loan as 25 banks commit more than twice the target
The Doha-based lender drew a $1.25bn slice from nine Asian banks, while the filing left pricing, maturity and repayment terms unstated.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
QNB Group has closed a $2.5 billion senior unsecured term loan, drawing commitments from 25 international and regional banks and beating its target by more than double. The Doha-based lender set out the syndication in a stock exchange filing on Sunday, saying the facility attracted strong participation even as global and regional market conditions stayed difficult.
Nine Asian banks accounted for roughly $1.25 billion of the total, about half the facility. The filing gave no interest rate, no maturity, no repayment schedule and no pricing.
Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa, group chief executive of QNB Group, said the response reflected the confidence international and regional lenders hold in the bank and would widen the group's lender base. He said the size of the oversubscription underlined QNB's standing as a high-quality borrower, and that the transaction represented further progress toward its aim of becoming a leading bank across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
QNB said it will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. The deal follows the bank's stated push to diversify where its funding comes from and to add new lenders to its roster.
Five institutions took the senior roles in the syndicate:
- DBS, HSBC, ICBC, Mizuho and Standard Chartered acted as initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.
- DBS and HSBC served as syndication coordinators.
- Standard Chartered was documentation coordinator.
- Mizuho acted as facility agent.
First-half results
The loan lands after a steady first half. Net profit rose 3% year on year to $2.4 billion, or QAR 8.7 billion, in the first half of 2026, a result the bank attributed to stable performance against global headwinds. Total assets reached $394.5 billion, or QAR 1.438 trillion, in June 2026, up 6% from June 2025, with growth driven mainly by loans and advances.
Loans and advances climbed 8% year on year to $285.9 billion, or QAR 1.042 trillion, over the half. Customer deposits rose 4% year on year to $266.9 billion, or QAR 973 billion.
QNB Group placed 11th on a 2026 ranking of the 100 most valuable companies in the region. Al-Khalifa placed 8th on a 2026 list of the region's top 100 chief executives.
