Turkey’s Sekerbank has secured a US$170mn dual currency syndicated term loan facility. The initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are Commerzbank, Emirates NBD, RZB and Wachovia Bank. Emirates NBD and Wachovia Bank are the co-ordinating banks for the facility.

The deal comprises a US dollar tranche for US$95.5mn and a euro tranche for €49.1mn.  It has a 364-day tenor, and pays a margin of 80 basis points per year over Libor/Euribor. Repayment is due in bullet form.

The deal was originally launched at US$100mn-equivalent, but was oversubscribed during syndication, attracting a total of 21 participating banks. However, the facility is still lower than the bank’s previous syndicated loan signed last year, and raising US$250mn.

“Achieving an oversubscription of 1.7 times in difficult market conditions is a commendable achievement and reflects the excellent credentials of initial mandated lead arrangers as well as the acceptability of Sekerbank in the global markets,” comments Abdul Wahed A Fahim, general manager, wholesale banking,  Emirates NBD.

The facility is the second time Emirates NBD has arranged a syndicated debt facility for the bank, with the first deal being the US$250mn dual-tranche syndicated term loan arranged in 2007.

Sekerbank was set up in 1953 as the Sugar Beet Cooperative Bank in Eskisehir in Turkey, setting up its activities through pooling the savings of sugar beet growers. It became a full service commercial bank in the 1970s, and by the 1980s the bank was prioritising its foreign trade and corporate banking business. As of 2004, the bank became headquartered in Istanbul.