Marine & Shipbuilding · Abu Dhabi, UAE
AED 200MProject Dhow
A strategic Abu Dhabi shipyard unlocks its first institutional credit line
Structured AED 200M of expansion and working capital for an Abu Dhabi shipbuilding platform of national relevance — the client's first institutional facility, secured against vessel hull collateral with an asset-valuation methodology acceptable to UAE Central Bank prudential treatment.
Challenge
A strategic UAE shipbuilding and maritime platform had grown to national relevance on equity and cash flow alone. Large-ticket naval and commercial orders — several aligned with the Operation 300bn manufacturing-strategy thesis — required expansion of slipways, dry-dock capacity, and working capital that equity could no longer support. Conventional corporate bankers saw a sector they did not underwrite; asset-backed specialists saw collateral (vessels-in-build) they could not value against UAE Central Bank risk-weight conventions.
Approach
LMA walked the lead credit officer through the slipways physically — the story lived in the hulls, not in the spreadsheet. We structured a layered facility: term debt against hull and receivables collateral, plus a revolving working-capital tranche calibrated to the 12-year naval order backlog. Valuation methodology was agreed upfront with the lender's risk team using a discounted-cash-flow approach on committed charter and order-book revenues — acceptable under the UAE CB's capital framework for project-specific asset lending. Documentation was concluded in the DIFC.
Outcome
AED 200M closed within the client's expansion window — their first institutional credit line. The lender relationship has since expanded; the facility was upsized 18 months later to fund the next dock.
Led by
Q. Bilal Khan Niazi
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