UC Rusal syndication closes

Banks have completed syndication of a US$4.5bn bridge loan to finance the cash portion of aluminium producer UC Rusal's acquisition of a stake in Norilsk Nickel.

The two-year facility is the largest loan closed for a privately owned Russian company.

The initial margin being paid on the deal is 100 basis points over Libor per year, rising to 125bp per year after three months, before increasing to 150bp in six months and finally increasing to 200bp per year for the remaining twelve months.

Mandates to arrange and underwrite the facility were issued to initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch in November 2007. Barclays Capital, Calyon, ING, Natixis and HVB then joined as additional MLAs and bookrunners with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs senior lead arrangers on the transaction.

These banks were joined in general syndication by Intesa Sanpaolo and Deutsche Bank at senior lead arranger level; Caja Madrid, Standard Chartered and OgresBank at arranger and DekaBank and Bank of Taiwan at co-arranger. Commitments and fees being offered at the various levels are US$125mn paying 65bp at senior lead arranger; US$75mn paying 50bp at lead arranger; US$50mn paying 40bp at arranger and US$25mn paying 30bp at co-arranger.

At the end of last year, UC Rusal announced it was to purchase a 25% plus one share interest in Norilsk Nickel from Onexim Group, a private investment fund and largest shareholder in the metals giant. The acquisition was completed in late April 2008 and under the terms of the deal, Onexim will receive a 14% stake in UC Rusal, as well as the a cash component funded by the syndicated facility.