Global commodities trader Mercuria has closed a ¥130.9bn (US$920mn) samurai term loan facility with a group of international and Asian banks.
The facility, which comes with a three-year tenor, replaces a ¥70.5bn samurai loan signed in 2022 and will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.
The transaction marks the sixth time Mercuria has tapped the Japanese syndicated loan market, with a total of 13 banks participating in the latest deal.
The size of the facility has increased, despite the number of banks falling from two years ago, when over 20 joined.
Guillaume Vermersch, Mercuria’s group chief financial officer says: “We are proud to celebrate 10 years of presence in the Japanese loan market by closing one of the largest cross-border Samurai loans to date.”
“The successful renewal and increase of this loan demonstrate the strong support of our Asian banking partners, who recognise the resilience and performance of Mercuria’s business model developed over the past 20 years,” he says.
The facility was arranged by bookrunning mandated lead arrangers Crédit Agricole CIB, Mizuho Bank, MUFG and SMBC.
The commodities trader, which focuses on energy products, metals and minerals, has raked in substantial revenues on the back of volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis.
The firm scored record profits of US$2.98bn in 2022, and according to a report from Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the matter, achieved its second best-ever results last year – registering profits of US$2.7bn.
In November 2023, the firm signed an oversubscribed borrowing base facility for its North American operations, securing US$3bn from a syndicate of international banks. Months earlier, it closed three deals worth over US$5bn, including its first funding backed by an export credit agency.
