Abu Dhabi government investment fund Mubadala is talking with banks to refinance a $2 billion loan due in April, among the first refinancings by Gulf firms since Dubai's debt problems rocked markets in November.

Names from oil-rich Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest in the seven-member United Arab Emirates federation, are viewed differently by lenders than those from debt-laden neighbour, Dubai.

State-linked Dubai World shook global markets on Nov. 25 with plans to request a delay on repaying $26 billion in debt linked to its main property units Nakheel and Limitless World.

It staved off default on a $4.1 billion Islamic bond linked to Nakheel, after a last-minute bailout from Abu Dhabi.

We are starting to discuss with banks; something will come in the next few weeks, Matthew Hurn, head of group treasury, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

The overall terms on structure and pricing have not been reached yet, Hurn said. We're in the discussion stage with banks, updating them on our business model and what the opportunities to work with banks are.

The original deal was a $2 billion, three-year club loan signed in April 2007 via 21 banks. It paid a margin of 17.5 basis points over LIBOR, according to Reuters LPC data.

Hurn also said the fund had no immediate plans for a bond issue.

We are committed to capital markets, but there are no immediate plans for an issue.

Last year, Mubadala, which has stakes in Ferrari and chipmaker AMD, established a global medium-term note programme targeting global fixed-income investors. It issued $1.25 billion of five-year and $500 million of 10-year, senior unsecured bonds based on a $9.3 billion order book.

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