BNP, Citi Have Biggest Part in $6.3 Billion Saudi Debt Workout

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BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc. provided a total 16 percent of the $6.3 billion of syndicated loans owed by Saudi billionaire Maan al-Sanea and the Algosaibi family, making them the most exposed to the country’s largest debt restructuring.

The banks top a list of 37 creditors that provided $5.6 billion to units of Saad Group, the construction and finance company whose owner al-Sanea has had accounts frozen, according to a document provided by one lender that shows the breakdown for the first time. Paris-based BNP, France’s largest bank, loaned about $475 million to Saad Group and $47.5 million to Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co., whose bank unit is in default. Citigroup in New York loaned $500 million to Saad.

Banks that provided at least $64 billion to Saudi borrowers in the past five years as record oil prices spurred growth for the world’s biggest crude exporter now risk losses because the country’s first recession in a decade is threatening the wealth of some of the most powerful families. Al-Sanea, ranked No. 62 among the world’s richest people by Forbes in March, with an estimated net worth of $7 billion, married into the Algosaibi family, whose businesses span banking to beverages.