Eastern District Cooling Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zamil Group Holding (Zamil), has signed a 13.5-year Murabaha finance agreement worth $54.9 million with the National Commercial Bank (NCB) for the first non-recourse project financing done in the region for a district cooling project. Drake & Scull International together with Zamil Industrial are building the project and Zamil Cool Care will be the Operator of the various facilities. The total project size is expected to go on stream later this year.

"We are delighted to achieve this major milestone towards the completion of this very challenging project. The strong teamwork of advisors and financiers supporting our project developer is greatly appreciated," said Abdulla Al Zamil, Chief Executive Officer of Zamil Industrial. "We are privileged to be a part of this well-structured Islamic project finance deal. We anticipate that there will be a number of similar district cooling projects to be financed with similar structures in the GCC, and are pleased that Zamil is the first Saudi entity to close such a transaction," added Mansoor Durrani, Head of Project Finance, NCB.

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