Bank Respublika secures dual-tranche term loan

Azerbaijan's Bank Respublika (BR) has secured a US$25mn dual-tranche syndicated term loan facility for specific trade finance and general corporate purposes via mandated lead arranger Standard Bank and a team of syndicated lenders.

The facility is split into two tranches; tranche A carries a tenor of 12 months, is priced at 325 basis points and obtained $US15mn in commitments with fees of 70bp offered on the top ticket while tranche B has a tenor 18 months, margins of 350 basis points and total commitments of US$10mn with top ticket fees of 100bp.

Syndication featured Standard Bank committing US$2mn to both tranches as mandated lead arranger, Erste Bank committing US$4mn to tranche A as lead arranger, Ricardo Master Holdings committing US$4mn to tranche B as lead arranger, Indover Bank holding US$3mn in tranche B as arranger, AKA Bank, DHB Bank, Dresdner and Wachovia holding US$2mn each in tranche A as co-arrangers and BCP and FBN Bank committing US$1mn to tranche A and tranche B respectively as lead managers.

Bank Respublika has a B2 credit rating for long-term deposits in foreign currency with "positive” outlook from Moody's and is one of the first banks in Azerbaijan with an international credit rating. The bank was founded in 1992 as a joint-stock company, and is currently placed fifth by total assets among the 46 banks operating in Azerbaijan. It has a 25% ownership stake of German DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) and SIDT (Sparkassen International Development Trust).