The Russian metals and mining group Metalloinvest is said to be in the market looking to raise a "significant” financing, potentially in the form of a pre-export financing.
The borrower is in discussions with banks, and given the size of the deal, the group of mandated lead arrangers is expected to be fairly large. BNP Paribas and ABN Amro are some of the banks set to be MLAs.
Metalloinvest was in the market at the end of 2007 raising a US$1bn pre-export financing. The financing was raised under the name of Gazmetall, whose assets are owned by Metalloinvest holding company. The mandated lead arrangers on that deal were ABN Amro and BNP Paribas.
At the beginning of April this year, Gazmetall was renamed Metalloinvest Holding company, and all its assets were consolidated into the holding company.
The Ukrainian metals and mining group Metinvest is also potentially looking to raise a US$500mn pre-export financing. Discussions with banks are continuing, and as yet the structure has not been finalised and no mandates have been issued.
Metinvest was also in the market at the end of 2007, raising a US$1.5bn dual tranche facility, consisting of a US$1bn pre-export portion, and a US$500mn revolving one-year trade finance facility. Mandated lead arrangers were ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and ING.
The deal marked the largest to date syndicated loan raised for a corporate borrower in Ukraine. It also featured a margin of 170bp, one of the best rates to be secured by a Ukrainian business, and unlikely to be seen again soon in a market suffering from a liquidity shortage.
Although pricing on the company's new deal will not be able to compete with its previous transaction, those close to the deal suggest the borrower will be aiming to secure a relatively long maturity.
The purpose of the loan has not been fully disclosed, but a proportion of it is expected to fund the company's expansive capital expenditure plans.
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