Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Jebel Ali Free Zone FZE, a business park operator in Dubai, is in talks with banks for a loan to help pay a 7.5 billion-dirham ($2 billion) Islamic bond maturing in November, two people familiar with the matter said.

The state-controlled company has begun discussions with Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC and Standard Chartered Plc to raise about half the amount in a loan, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is private. It plans to ask holders of the remainder, mostly regional investors, to extend maturities by buying a new sukuk, the people said. No mandates for the loan have been awarded, they said.

An official for Jebel Ali Free Zone declined to comment as did representatives for Dubai Islamic, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered. Reuters reported the story yesterday.

Jebel Ali Free Zone has “commenced work on liability management and is currently exploring various refinancing options,” the company said April 18. Profit in 2010 dropped 51 percent to 139.7 million dirhams as impairments surged sevenfold to 198.3 million dirhams.

--Editors: Claudia Maedler, Shaji Mathew

To contact the reporter on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net