Eden Developers (Pvt) Ltd ("Eden") recently signed a PKR 490 million syndicated facility to part finance the development of the Eden Palace Villa Project. The facility was signed by Mohammed Arshad, Chief Executive Officer, Naveed Khan (GM Finance and Accounts) and Zahid Arif (Senior Manager Banking) Eden, and Tahir Aziz, Head, Investment Banking Group, Union Bank Ltd and senior representatives from Allied Bank Ltd (as co-arrangers), Meezan Bank Limited, The Bank of Khyber, Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation, Metropolitan Bank Ltd, and Security Leasing Corporation Ltd.

Eden is the only real estate developer that has been rated by Pacra and Nespak (National Engineering Services Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd), with a track record that scans over 22 years.

The company's chairman, Dr Amjad, a qualified medical doctor, and Arshad, the CEO and Chief Architect, are the visionaries behind the company which has now successfully delivered over 16 large scale projects, including several major landmark constructions in Lahore. Eden has an equity base in excess of Rs 2 billion, by far the largest in the industry.

This landmark transaction represents one of the first syndicated facilities to the real estate development sector, which is now increasingly becoming a key sector for meeting the current housing deficit in the country.

The transaction was structured and arranged by Union Bank Limited's Investment Banking Group, which has a core focus on Capital Markets and Syndications and Project Finance and Corporate Advisory.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005