Russian metals producer Norilsk Nickel has closed its US$1.5bn syndicated facility. The deal was arranged and fully underwritten by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, Calyon, ING Wholesale Banking, Société Générale, SMBC, RBS and WestLB. It has been raised to refinance a US$2.5bn short-term facility provided last year by BNP Paribas and Société Générale to finance the acquisition of LionOre Mining.
It consists of three tranches: a US$750mn amortising nickel and/or copper pre-export term loan facility, a US$550mn revolving nickel and/or copper pre-export loan facility, and a US$200mn unsecured revolving loan facility. The US$1.5bn facility has a three-year tenor, and the pre-export tranche is said to pay 85 basis points, while the unsecured portion pays 100bp over Libor.
Société Générale is the coordinating mandated lead arranger, documentation agent and coordinating structured rate provider. Calyon is the facility and security agent.
During general syndication, Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank joined as mandated lead arrangers, BayernLB and Svenska Handelsbanken joined as arrangers, with BAWAG joining as co-arranger.
Last Updated July 21, 2008
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