* Investor meetings begin on Tuesday
* Samba Capital to arrange riyal-denominated offering
* Close to signing 1 bln riyal loan with group of banks (Adds loan news, context)
DUBAI, May 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian retailer FawazAbdulaziz Alhokair Co plans to issue a debutriyal-denominated sukuk and is close to signing a 1 billionriyal ($266.6 million) loan, it said on Tuesday, to help fundexpansion.
Alhokair, the Saudi Arabian retailer which franchises brandssuch as Zara and Marks and Spencer in the kingdom, willbegin meeting local investors on Tuesday ahead of a potentialissuing of the Islamic bond, a bourse filing said.
Samba Financial Group's investment banking armwill arrange the transaction, although no value or tenor of the sukuk was given in the statement.
The company was also close to signing an agreement with agroup of banks for a loan worth 1 billion riyals, Alhokair saidin a separate stock market statement.
The loan would be used to repay most of its existing loansand also to finance the company's expansion.
To cover the time between the loan and the sukuk beingcompleted, Alhokair had signed a 315 million riyal bridging loanwith Samba, the statement said.
Alhokair operates across 20 markets, predominantly in theMiddle East and Commonwealth of Independent States, and has beenexpanding both on its own and through acquisitions - includingthe purchase of Spanish clothing brand Blanco earlier this year.
Alhokair was planning to open 404 stores globally in thenext financial year, of which half would be in Saudi Arabia, acompany official told Reuters in March.
Saudi Arabia's retail market is highly regarded by investorsand companies, given its favourable demographics - about 60percent of the population is under 30 - and its growing percapita income.($1 = 3.7505 Saudi Riyals) (Reporting by David French; Editing by Erica Billingham)
Marks & Spencer (MKS)