Empower, the worlds largest district cooling services provider, has won the Mudaraba Deal of the Year at the Islamic Finance News Awards function at the Ritz Carlton DIFC last night.
The company was bestowed with this award for its US$127.8 million funding agreement with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the first Islamic financing facility availed by Empower.
Dubai is a city that aims to progress based on solid philosophies, making it more than an epicentre for trade, tourism and real estate, said Ahmad Bin Shafar, Chief Executive Officer, Empower. The Empower- DIB agreement was possible because of the ideals that this great city was built on, and this partnership will support the development of world- class infrastructure in Dubai. We are optimistic that future collaborations like this will help Dubai become the Islamic Banking capital of the world.
Empowers financing facility is for a five year tenor repayable over 10 half yearly installments to fund the companys multi-plant district cooling system in Dubais Business Bay area.
The Business Bay district cooling network will eventually consist of 350,000 Refrigeration Tons (RT) with retail, offices and residential buildings across this rapidly expanding neighbourhood. To date, the company operates two district cooling facilities in Business Bay, aside from 60 additional facilities dotted across the Emirate.
Our Mudaraba financing structure is notable because it was granted on a standalone basis as our business was deemed as a secure investment, continued Bin Shafar. We are grateful to IFN for their award, and hope this global recognition is an example to our peers that Islamic finance provides many funding opportunities for businesses.
Empower currently operates a 1,045,000 RT portfolio. The company currently provides environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments such as Jumeirah Group, Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Ibn Batutta Shopping Mall, Discovery Gardens, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai World trade Centre Residences, Dubai Design District, among others.