Deutsche Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch,
Barclays, BayernLB, BNP Paribas, Citigroup,
Commerzbank, Credit Agricole, Danske Bank,
Helaba, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, JP Morgan,
LBBW, Mediobanca, Morgan Stanley, RBI, SEB,
Standard Chartered and Svenska Handelsbanken
were bookrunners and mandated lead
ARRANGERSûONûTHEûlNANCING
Deutsche Bank is documentation and
facility agent.
The previous facility was originally
arranged in February 2014.
HeidelbergCement is rated BBB- by S&P
and Baa3 by Moody’s.
JORDAN
AL FAKHER SIGNS US$250m ACQUISITION
LOAN
Flavoured tobacco distributor AL FAKHER FOR
TOBACCO TRADING AND AGENCIES, a subsidiary of
Al-Eqbal Investment, has agreed a US$250m
syndicated loan.
4HEûLOANûBACKSû!Lû&AKHERSû53Mû
ACQUISITIONûOFûTHEûMAJORITYûOFûDISTRIBUTIONû
activity of Al Fakher Molasses Product that
WASûANNOUNCEDûINû*ULYû
4HEûlNANCING ûWHICHûHASûAûGUARANTEEû
from Al-Eqbal, was arranged by Credit Suisse
with several local and international banks
providing commitments.
Al-Eqbal, which was formerly
International Tobacco and Cigarettes Co, is a
public shareholding company
headquartered in Amman.
KENYA
SOVEREIGN SECURES US$750m LOANKENYAûHASûSECUREDûAû53MûSYNDICATEDû
loan for seven years from the Trade
Development Bank to pay off creditors in
another two-year syndicated loan that was
extended last year, Reuters reported.
The government was also set to issue a
53BNû%UROBONDûFORûûYEARSûBYûTHEûlRSTû
week of March, to take advantage of high
demand for new issues.
“They [the government] know there is
appetite out there,” said a person with
knowledge of the plans, citing a drop in
yields of outstanding Kenyan dollar bonds.
Both Kenya’s 2019 issue and the 2024
bond have seen their yields fall by about
100bp since November.
Finance minister Henry Rotich said last
November a six-month extension of the
syndicated facility had been agreed with
90% of investors. Funds raised from a new
Eurobond issue could be used to pay off the
outstanding amount, he said.
The extension was partly caused by a
prolonged presidential election, after the
3UPREMEû#OURTûNULLIlEDûTHEûlRSTûVOTEûANDû
ordered a re-run. That disrupted
government programmes and raised the
political risks associated with investing in
Kenya.
Stability has since returned after
President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a
second term on November 28, but investors
could demand a small premium on the
upcoming dollar bond because of the
COUNTRYSûlSCALûDElCIT ûWHICHûCLIMBEDûTOûû
in the year to last June.
“It is very likely that they will be punished
for that,” the person said.NETHERLANDS
TRAFIGURA RETURNS FOR REFINANCINGCommodity trader TRAFIGURA BEHEER is
returning to the loan market for a US$4.5bn
RElNANCINGûOFûITSû%UROPEANûREVOLVINGûCREDITû
facilities.
ING Bank, National Westminster Bank,
Standard Chartered and UniCredit are active
mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners
on the loan, while Bank of China, London
branch, and Societe Generale have passive
roles.
The new loan, made up of 365-day and
THREE
YEARûTRANCHES ûWILLûRElNANCEû4RAlGURAû
Group’s revolvers coming due in March this
year and the same month in 2019.
The maturing loans include a US$3.19bn
three-year tranche, with two one-year
extension options, from a US$5.1bn multi-
CURRENCYûlNANCINGûSIGNEDûINû-ARCHûû
ANDûAû53BNû
DAYûFACILITYûSIGNEDûLASTû
March.
Last October, the Singapore multinational
commodity trading company signed a
US$1.99bn-equivalent loan, comprising a
53BNû
DAYû53ûDOLLARûREVOLVINGû
CREDITûFACILITYû4RANCHEû! ûAû53M
equivalent one-year renminbi term loan
4RANCHEû" ûANDûAû53MûTHREE
YEARû53û
DOLLARûTERMûLOANû4RANCHEû#
4HEûlNANCINGûCLOSEDûOVERSUBSCRIBEDûWITHû
ûBANKSûANDûWASûINCREASEDûFROMûTHEûLAUNCHû
amount of US$1.5bn. Tranches A and C
offered top-level all-in pricing of 95bp and
140bp, based on interest margins of 65bp
and 110bp over Libor, respectively. Tranche
B paid top-level all-in pricing of 130bp, based
on a margin of 100bp over CNH Hibor.ARCELORMITTAL NETS LOAN FOR UNITThe European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development has syndicated part of a €350m
loan backing steel and mining group
ARCELORMITTAL’s US$1.1bn investmentprogramme at its Ukrainian subsidiary
AMKR.
The senior unsecured loan will be used to
IMPROVEûCOMPETITIVENESS ûENERGYûEFlCIENCYû
and environmental performance of
Ukraine’s largest steel mill.
4HEûlNANCINGûCOMPRISESûAûõMû!ûLOANû
provided by the EBRD and a €150m B loan
that was subsequently syndicated to
commercial lenders and funds.
Participants in the B loan included AKA
Ausfuhrkredit, Credit Agricole CIB, Federated
Project and Trade Finance Core Fund, Hellenic
Bank and Raiffeisen International.
Hellenic Bank provided a US$10m
commitment.
The loan will be provided to ArcelorMittal
and then on-lent to the company’s Ukrainian
subsidiary ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.OMAN
SOHAR DETAILS US$300m LOANPricing details have emerged on BANK SOHAR’s
US$300m three-year bullet loan, which is in
syndication.
Based on an interest margin of 200bp over
,IBOR ûBANKSûJOININGûASû-,!SûWITHûTICKETSûOFû
US$25m or above earn a top-level all-in
PRICINGûOFûBPûVIAûANûUPFRONTûFEEûOFûBP û
while lead arrangers committing US$15m–
$24m receive an all-in pricing of 220bp via a
60bp fee.
Arrangers committing US$10m–$14m
obtain an all-in pricing of 215bp via a 45bp
fee.
Arab Banking Corp and Commerzbank are the
initial mandated lead arrangers and
bookrunners, while Axis Bank JOINEDûASû
initial mandated lead arranger before the
launch.
The loan, which was fully underwritten
by Bank ABC and Commerzbank, will be
used for general corporate purposes.
Bank Sohar was last in the market in June
when it closed a US$250m three-year loan
with Bank ABC acting as sole bookrunner
and coordinator. That facility also paid a
margin of 200bp.
The borrower, rated Baa3/BB+/BBB–
-OODYS&ITCH#APITALû)NTELLIGENCE ûISûAû
corporate and retail bank.RUSSIA
RUSSIAN COPPER RETURNS FOR REFIRUSSIAN COPPER CO is tapping the loan market
TOûRElNANCEûAû53MûFACILITYûSIGNEDûINû
2013.
4HEûPRE
EXPORTûlNANCEûFACILITYûISûBEINGû
arranged by Natixis.