74 International Financing Review September 8 2018Margins ranged from 262.5bp to 325bp
over Libor, depending on ratings, while
facility fees ranged from 37.5bp to 100bp.
Citigroup was administrative agent and
sole bookrunner on that financing while
Wells Fargo was syndication agent.UK
KNOT OFFSHORE AGREES REFIAberdeen-headquartered shuttle tanker
owner and operator KNOT OFFSHORE PARTNERS
has agreed a US$375m senior secured loan
to refinance US$355m of existing loans
secured on six vessels.
The financing comprises a US$320m term
loan and a US$55m revolving credit facility.
Mandated lead arranger Nordea
coordinated the financing, committing
US$72.1m to the term loan and US$12.5m to
the RCF.
Other mandated lead arrangers are ABN
AMRO, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, DNB Bank
and SMBC, each committing US$49.5m to
the term loan and US$8.5m to the RCF.
DNB is facility agent.
The term loan is repayable in 20 quarterly
instalments, with a balloon payment of
US$177m at maturity in September 2023,
and pays a margin of 212.5bp over Libor.
The RCF matures in August 2023.
Both facilities pay a drawn margin of
212.5bp over Libor while the RCF has a
commitment fee of 85bp payable on the
undrawn portion.
The loans are guaranteed by the
partnership and secured by mortgages on
the vessels comprising the Windsor
Knutsen, the Bodil Knutsen, the Fortaleza
Knutsen, the Recife Knutsen, the Carmen
Knutsen and the Ingrid Knutsen.
The new loans are expected to close in
mid-September.
The previous financing comprised a
US$320m term loan and a US$35m RCF,
maturing between December 2018 and June
2019.JSG AMENDS AND EXTENDS £150m LOANDry cleaning-to-textile hire services firm
JOHNSON SERVICE GROUP has amended and
extended its revolving credit facility, taking
advantage of low levels of Libor to extend
the maturity of its debt.
The £150m financing comprises a £135m
RCF maturing in August 2022 and a £15m
short-term facility maturing in August 2019.
The RCF pays a margin ranging from
125bp to 225bp over Libor while the short-
term facility pays a fixed 125bp over Libor.
Hedging agreements remain in place,
including two hedges, each for £15m, one ofwhich Libor was replaced with a fixed rate
of 1.4725% to January 2019 and the other
1.665% until January 2020.
A further two hedges, each for £10m,
replace Libor with a fixed rate of 0.5525% to
June 2019.
JSG increased its existing loan to £150m
from £100m in April 2016 to finance its
£52.6m acquisition of hotel linen and
laundry firm Portgrade.
The financing comprised a £120m RCF
maturing in 2020 and a £30m 364-day
facility that was repaid and cancelled in
February 2017.
The loan was originally arranged in April
2015 via Banco Santander, Lloyds Bank and
Royal Bank of Scotland.
JSG’s leverage was 1.6 times at the end of
June 2018.TEMPLETON UPS LOAN TO £220mUK-based TEMPLETON EMERGING MARKETS
INVESTMENT TRUST (TEMIT) has amended its
three-year unsecured multicurrency
revolving loan, increasing the facility to
£220m from £150m.
The financing, which is being provided by
Bank of Nova Scotia, is available in sterling, US
dollars and renminbi. Renminbi borrowings
are now restricted to £44m-equivalent, up
from £30m-equivalent previously.
The loan is TEMIT’s only debt. If the
whole financing was drawn down - based on
the net asset value as at close of business on
August 31 - gross gearing would be around
10%, which is the maximum gearing
allowed under TEMIT’s investment policy.
TEMIT, which is part of Franklin
Templeton Investments’ group of funds, was
launched in June 1998 and is listed on the
London and New Zealand stock exchanges.GO-AHEAD EXTENDS £280m LOANPublic transport group GO-AHEAD has
extended the maturity of its £280m
revolving credit facility by two years with
two one-year extension options.
The RCF was originally agreed in July
2014 with an initial maturity of July 2019
with two one-year extension options, which
were exercised taking the maturity out to
July 2021.
The financing, which is provided by a club
syndicate of Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit
Agricole CIB, HSBC, MUFG, Royal Bank of
Scotland and Santander, pays an effective
interest rate of 1%.
Go-Ahead agreed a £200m bridge loan in
September 2016 to give the company flexibility
over the refinancing of a £200m bond that was
due to mature in September 2017.
The company issued a £250m seven-year
bond in July 2017 to replace the maturingbond. Go-Ahead is rated BBB- by S&P and
Baa3 by Moody’s.NORTH AMERICA
UNITED STATES
MARATHON LINES UP US$6bn DEALOil refiner MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP has lined
up US$6bn of loans to finance the company
after it completes its US$23bn merger with
Andeavor.
The merger, which is expected to close at
the beginning of October, will create the
largest independent US refiner by volume
with an initial enterprise value of over
US$90bn.
The unsecured financing comprises a
US$5bn five-year revolving credit facility
and a US$1bn 364-day RCF.
The five-year RCF, which will replace
Marathon’s existing US$2.5bn revolving
credit facility from July 2017 once the
merger is completed, includes two one-year
extension options, and may be increased by
up to US$1bn conditional on lender consent.
There are also sub-facilities for swing-line
loans of up to US$250m and letters of credit
of up to US$2.2bn, which may be increased
to up to US$3bn if additional letter of credit
issuing commitments are received.
The facility pays an initial margin of
125bp over Libor, ranging from 100bp to
175bp based on ratings.
For A-/A3 the margin is 100bp over Libor
with a 10bp commitment fee; for BBB+/Baa1
it is 112.5bp and 12.5bp; for BBB/Baa2 it is
125bp and 15bp; for BBB-/Baa3 it is 150bp
and 20bp; and for BB+/Ba1 it is 175bp and
25bp.
The 364-day RCF also pays an initial
margin of 125bp over Libor, ranging from
112.5bp to 150bp based on ratings.
For BBB+/Baa1 the margin is 112.5bp over
Libor with a 10bp commitment fee; for BBB/
Baa2 it is 125bp and 12.5bp; and for BBB-/
Baa3 it is 150bp and 17.5bp.
JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Barclays, Citigroup,
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Bank,
MUFG and Royal Bank of Canada were joint
lead arrangers and joint bookrunners on the
financing.
Other lenders comprised BNP Paribas,
Goldman Sachs, PNC Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia,
SMBC, SunTrust Bank, TD Bank, US Bank, Branch
Banking & Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Huntington
National Bank, Comerica Bank, Riyad Bank, Bank
of New York Mellon and Northern Trust Co.
JP Morgan is administrative agent and
Wells Fargo is syndication agent.9 Loans 2250 p67-80.indd 74 07/09/2018 18:55:11