Alpha Bank AE, American Express Bank GmbH, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (joint bookrunner), HVB Group, Standard Chartered Bank (information memorandum, joint bookrunner), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (facility agent), Wachovia Bank and WestLB AG (co-ordinating arranger, documentation agent, joint bookrunner) as joint arrangers have been signed into a new US$200mn one-year syndicated term loan facility for Turkey’s Kocbank. This was increased from its launch amount of US$125mn. The Arab Investment Company joined the facility as an arranger before the launch of general syndication. The facility represents a refinancing of Kocbank’s US$200mn 364-day pre-export finance facility signed in April 2002 and repaid earlier this year.

The margin is 75bp pa.

Fees are: co-arrangers 105bps for US$7.5mn (Union Bank of Norway); lead managers 100bps for US$5mn (Arab Banking Corp, Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Bank of New York, Credit Lyonnais, Erste Bank (Malta), Natexis Banques Populaires, Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG, RZB Austria; managers 92.5bp for US$3mn (BW Bank, Banque Internationale de Commerce BRED, Bayern LB); participants 90bp for US$2mn (Anglo Irish, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Bank Hapoalim, Bank of Nova Scotia, Banque Misr, Commercial Bank of Greece, Indover Bank, KBC Bank, Tunis International Bank, UBAE Arab Italian Bank, Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises).

The loan will be used to pre- finance export contracts.