Standard Bank has signed a US$1bn, 36-month term loan facility in London, one of its largest syndicated loans raised to date. The funding will be used for general corporate purposes, including trade-related finance as well as infrastructure, power and mining-related lending transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The transaction was initially launched on March 4, 2016 at US$600mn and was well oversubscribed, allowing for a final take-up of US$1bn. The facility is priced at 120 basis points over Libor.

The group of 18 lenders on the facility includes banks from Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, the UK and the US.

They are:

As co-ordinators, bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers (MLAs): Mizuho Bank, Bank of China (Johannesburg branch), Bayerische Landesbank, China Construction Bank Corporation (Johannesburg), HSBC, ICBC (London), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) and Standard Chartered.

As bookrunners and MLAs: Agricultural Bank of China (DIFC branch) and Emirates NBD Bank.

As MLAs: Citibank (DIFC) and Commerzbank (Luxembourg).

As lead arrangers: Bank of Taiwan, CTBC Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank, Taiwan Co-operative Bank and the Bank of New York Mellon. Bayerische Landesbank was appointed as the facility agent.

Standard Bank has been borrowing in the international loan market since 1995. To date the group has secured 55 syndicated loans amounting to US$15bn.

Arno Daehnke, group financial director designate at Standard Bank Group Limited, comments on the facility: “This is indeed a very special and remarkable transaction for us, being one of the largest syndicated loans that The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited has raised. We are delighted with the amount raised as well as the pricing achieved. Standard Bank’s ability to raise a 36-month jumbo facility involving 18 of the world’s leading banks is a reflection of our standing in the international community.”