MBH with syndicate of banks on EGP 5b loan to NERIC

Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (MBH) advised a syndicate of banks comprising the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the Commercial International Bank (CIB Egypt), and the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) in connection with a syndicated loan worth EGP 5 billion to the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC). This loan will fund the construction and development of an industrial rolling stock plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone at East Port Said.

The plant will cover approximately 300,000 square meters, divided into three phases of 100,000 square meters each. The first phase, currently under construction, includes a factory for railway and metro vehicles, projected to open by mid-2025 with an estimated investment of EGP 4.2 billion. The second phase will focus on manufacturing rolling stock for the monorail, high-speed trains, and light electric trains, while the third phase will involve refurbishing old metro and railway cars.

Once operational, the NERIC factory, in partnership with Hyundai Rotem of South Korea, will manufacture 40 metro trains, totaling 320 new air-conditioned metro cars for Greater Cairo Metro Lines 2 and 3. Additionally, a contract is underway for the manufacturing and supply of 500 railway cars, with plans to locally produce a total of 1,000 railway cars in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and an international transportation manufacturing company.

The team

The MBH team advising on the matter was led by Mahmoud Bassiouny (regional managing partner and group head of finance & projects, pictured) and included Nadia Abdallah (counsel) and Mai Ali (associate).