Russia’s privately owned Promsvyazbank has secured an oversubscribed US$250mn loan facility from 12 international banks.
The loan, which will be used for on-lending to the Russian retail sector, is split into an A/B structure, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) providing the US$100mn A portion, which matures after three years.
The US$150mn B portion club deal, which was oversubscribed by US$50mn, has a 12-month tenor and is priced at 275 basis points over Libor, with the all-in pricing, including a flat front-end fee, reaching 430bp.
Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, HSBC, ING, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation, RBS, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich, Standard Chartered, Unicredit, VTB and WestLB all acted as mandated lead arrangers for the B loan.
Lorenz Jorgensen, director of loan syndications at the EBRD, remarks: “The EBRD has always remained active in raising Russian syndicated loans, irrespective of prevailing conditions, and is proud to have arranged this deal which met very strong market support for a long-standing client of the bank.
“This benchmark transaction, one of the first syndications for a private Russian bank since the crisis began in the autumn of 2008, will contribute to the re-opening of the international debt market for Russian banks by strengthening investor confidence in reputable borrowers.”
A spokesman for EBRD tells GTR: “The EBRD’s investment into Russia is absolutely going to continue. Our funds are limited, but it is very important to keep financial systems going. It’s important to keep key infrastructure projects going and diversify the Russian economy which this project helps to do.”
The deal follows the 2007’s syndicated loan arranged by the EBRD for Promsvyazbank which raised US$300mn, including a US$215mn B loan which was syndicated to over 30 banks.
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