ING has structured and arranged a US$300mn syndicated facility on behalf of GT Commodities, the North American trading hub of metals merchant Gerald Group.

This is Gerald Group’s first syndicated transaction and will be used to support its growth ambitions in North America.

The deal, which was well oversubscribed, was closed on October 4.

ING took on the role of administrative agent, with Deutsche Bank and Rabobank acting as joint lead arrangers. The syndicate is comprised of commodity finance lenders including MUFG, Bank of China, HSBC and Crédit Agricole.

The facility’s structure includes a US$50mn accordion feature which provides Gerald with the flexibility to expand the deal to support GTC’s growing business in the North American region.

“Gerald Group is extremely pleased to have closed this debut transaction for which there was very strong support from the commodity finance community. This facility is important in underpinning the group’s continued growth ambitions for North America,” says Mital Patel, Gerald Group’s global head of finance.

ING’s managing director of trade and commodity finance Matthew Rosetti says the transaction presented a “unique opportunity to continue expanding our presence in the North American commodity banking market”.

“Gerald is well-positioned in the diversified metals space and this credit facility provides them with a scalable financing solution upon which to continue growing their business in the region,” he adds.