IFR - 07.07.2018

GERMANY

MERCK RENEWS €2bn LOAN EARLY

Pharmaceutical company MERCK KGAA has
RENEWEDûITSûEXISTINGûõBNûMULTICURRENCYû
revolving credit facility in advance of its
2020 maturity.
Linklaters advised Merck on the renewal
while Hengeler Mueller advised the banks.
4HEûlNANCINGûWASûORIGINALLYûAGREEDûINû
-ARCHûûFORûlVEûYEARSûPLUSûTWOûONE
YEARûEXTENSIONûOPTIONSûWHICHûWEREûBOTHû
EXERCISED
The original self-arranged revolver was
provided by a group of 19 international
banks comprising BBVA, Banco Santander,
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays,
BayernLB, CIC, Citigroup, Commerzbank,
Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, BNP Paribas Fortis,
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, LBBW, Helaba,
Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale, SEB
and UniCredit.
Standard Chartered Bank replaced RBS on
the renewed facility.
4HEûlNANCINGûPAIDûAûMARGINûOFûBPû
over Euribor.
4HEûUNDRAWNûlNANCINGûISûUSEDûASûAû
back-up facility in case of liquidity
bottlenecks and, because it has no
lNANCIALûCOVENANTSûCANûBEûACCESSEDûEVENû
if Merck’s credit rating deteriorates.
Merck is rated A by S&P and Baa1 by
Moody’s.

KAZAKHSTAN

SAMRUK-KAZYNA NETS US$600m REFI

Sovereign wealth fund SAMRUK-KAZYNA has
signed US$600m syndicated loan to
PARTIALLYûRElNANCEûANûEXISTINGû53BNû
loan originally put in place in 2015 to
lNANCEûTHEûACQUISITIONûOFûAûûSTAKEûINûOILû
ANDûGASûEXPLORATIONûANDûPRODUCTIONû
company KMG Kashagan.
4HEûRElNANCINGûWASûCOMPLETEDûTHROUGHû
a US$900m repayment from Samruk-
Kazyna’s own funds.
The new loan, which matures at the end
of 2022, was coordinated by mandated lead
arranger and bookrunner MUFG.
-5&'ûWASûJOINEDûBYûAûGROUPûOFûlVEû
international and Kazakh banks
comprising Mizuho Bank, SMBC, Halyk
Savings Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank
of China and Citibank.
4HEûRElNANCINGûSEESû3AMRUK
+AZYNAû
REDUCEûITSûEXTERNALûDEBTûREDUCEDû
BYû53MûSIGNIlCANTLYûREDUCINGû
INTERESTûEXPENSESûWHILEûRETAININGûAû
presence in the international debt
markets.

4HEûPREVIOUSûlNANCINGûWHICHûWASûDUEûTOû

mature in 2020, was also coordinated by

MUFG with JP Morgan, Mizuho Bank and

SMBC joining at the top level, while Credit

Suisse and Deutsche Bank came in as

mandated lead arrangers.

The loan was initially for US$1bn but

included an accordion option to increase the

facility to US$1.5bn.

NETHERLANDS

BASIC-FIT EXTENDS €450m LOAN

Gym operator BASIC-FIT has amended and

EXTENDEDûõMûOFûLOANSûTAKINGûADVANTAGEû

of favourable market conditions.

4HEûlNANCINGûCOMPRISESûAûõMûTERMû

loan and a €200m revolving credit facility,

WHICHûHAVEûBOTHûBEENûEXTENDEDûTOû*UNEû

2023 with reduced margins.

Core relationship banks ABN AMRO,

Rabobank, ING and KBC supported the

amendment, with new relationship bank

BNP Paribas joining the syndicate.

2ABOBANKûCOORDINATEDûTHEûlNANCINGûASû

documentation agent.

.AUTA$UTILHûADVISEDû"ASIC

&IT

"ASIC

&ITûAGREEDûAûõMûlVE

YEARû

MULTICURRENCYûLOANûlNANCINGûINû*UNEûû

comprising a €175m term loan and a €100m

2#&û4HEûlNANCINGûPAIDûAûMARGINûOFûAROUNDû

200bp over Euribor, depending on leverage.

The RCF was increased to €175m in March

2017 to support the company’s roll out of clubs.

WESTFIELD GETS US$3bn RCF

UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD has arranged a

US$3bn four-year revolving credit facility for

use by its recently acquired shopping mall

OPERATORû7ESTlELD

The multicurrency facility includes two

SIX

MONTHûEXTENSIONûOPTIONSûANDûFEATURESû

CROSSûGUARANTEESûBETWEENû7ESTlELDûANDû

Unibail-Rodamco subsidiaries so that senior

corporate debt of all members of the

combined company ranks pari passu.

Unibail-Rodamco completed the

ACQUISITIONûOFû7ESTlELDûINûEARLYû*UNE

The US$15.7bn acquisition was initially

lNANCEDûWITHûAûõBNûBRIDGEûLOANûFROMû

underwriters Deutsche Bank and Goldman.

The bridge loan was subsequently syndicated

and closed in January raising €11.2bn of

commitments from a group of 32 banks.

The loan was reduced in April through a

€2bn dual-tranche hybrid bond and again in

May through a €3bn bond. The remaining

loan will be repaid through non-core asset

disposals.

NORWAY

KONGSBERG LINES UP BRIDGE

Technological systems group KONGSBERG has

lined up a bridge loan help back its £500m

acquisition of Rolls-Royce’s marine

products, systems and aftermarket services

businesses.

Lenders fear long-term

slump in CEEMEA

„ EMERGING MARKETS Middle East borrowing at lowest level since 2004

Bankers fear a longer term decline in the

syndicated loan market across Central & Eastern

Europe, Middle East and Africa as volumes

remained stagnant during the first half of 2018

and deal pipelines are practically empty.

In the first half of 2018, lending in CEEMEA

reached US$71.55bn, up just 11.62% compared

with the first six months of 2017, according to

Thomson Reuters LPC data.

Loan activity in the Middle East was

particularly subdued in the second quarter with

volume reaching just US$4.4bn – its lowest

three-month total since the second quarter of

2004.

Africa also saw a steep fall in year-on-year

activity, with volumes falling about 50% to

US$6.43bn, its lowest first half total since 2009.

In Russia, borrowing opportunities continued

to be hit by sanctions, with loan volumes

unchanged at US$13.46bn compared with

US$14.35bn last year.

“It is very disappointing – year on year there

is a downward decline (in deal volume). This has

been the trend for the last five to seven years

and it looks like it will continue,” said one senior

banker.

This decline in recent years has been driven by

volatile oil prices, economic sanctions imposed

on Russia by the West in 2014 and a lack of

refinancing opportunities. Now bankers say any

potential recovery in CEEMEA will be stunted by a

growing fear over global trade wars.

“There is less and less demand as companies

are concerned about global trade issues.

Investing is just on hold because they are in wait

and see mode,” a second banker said.” They have