TNK-BP’s syndicated pre-export finance facility is due to be closed imminently. Final commitments are being confirmed and the deal is expected to close oversubscribed.

However, the syndication process has been fairly drawn out with some banks taking their time to complete their required credit processes, according to those close to the deal.

There are, report sources, still a few banks wavering about whether to commit to the transaction or not. However, it is still hoped that the deal can be closed in the next week.

The syndicated deal was launched at US$315mn in April by mandated lead arrangers Calyon, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank. However, sources close to the deal suggest that it could be signed at US$500mn, with some suggesting it could go even higher than that. The pricing on the transaction is 400 basis points, and it carries a tenor of three years.

A US$150mn pre-export deal was signed at the end of 2008 between TNK-BP and Calyon and Deutsche Bank, both taking equal participation in the transaction. However, the facility allowed for future increases pending improved market conditions.

By April this year, ING and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank joined the facility at initial mandated lead arranger level. Deutsche Bank increased its commitment to US$90mn, and the remaining MLAs have committed US$75mn.

A number of other banks have joined the deal over recent months, taking smaller tickets than the MLAs. One banker suggested this is one of the first “genuine syndications” seen in the market since the crisis froze Russian markets mid-last year. Although there is still no underwriting capacity in the market, the transaction bucks current trends of raising money solely through club deals. There are banks involved in this deal that are at lower levels than MLA status, suggesting syndications market in Russia are being revived, although at a very slow pace.

TNK-BP was previously in the market in 2005 when it secured a longer tenured five-year transaction of US$500mn via MLAs Citi, ABN Amro and Calyon. TNK-BP is among the top ten privately-owned oil companies in the world in terms of crude oil production.