Al Futtaim eyes $1.3bn for Qatar, Egypt plans

Al Futtaim Group, a diversified UAE-based conglomerate, is close to raising about $1.3 billion in loans to meet its expansion plans in Qatar and Egypt, an executive at the company said on Monday.

The unlisted company was in the "final stages" of a $1 billion syndicated loan facility in Qatar and a separate 2 billion Egyptian pounds ($334.3 million) loan, John Wartig, group director of finance at Al Futtaim, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

"We are in the final documentation stages for the syndicated loan in Qatar with four to five banks ... it's around $1 billion in size," said Wartig. "The financing will meet our Qatar
expansion plans. We are building a retail mall there and an IKEA store."

The group's Qatar loan facility involves around four to five banks, while the Egyptian pound facility will be signed with five banks, Wartig said without specifying any specific names.

It plans to build a shopping mall and set up an IKEA store in Doha with the financing, Wartig said.

Al-Futtaim, which was established in the 1930s as a trading business, has its headquarters in Dubai and holds regional franchises of companies including IKEA, Toys R Us, Marks and Spencer and Toyota Motor Corp.