Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (Banbif) of Peru has secured its first internationally-syndicated financing package.

The finance will be on-lent to Peruvian companies for trade finance purposes. In total, the bank managed to secure US$100mn for three years, from a syndicate of international lenders.

GTR can reveal that the syndicate was two-stepped, with the initial mandated lead arrangers being Bladex (of Panama), Citi, Santander and BCP (of Peru). Bladex also acted as bookrunner and administrative agent.

At the second stage of syndication, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo joined as lead arrangers, with Natixis, Banco do Brasil, Banco de Credito e Inversiones (of Chile) and the Panamanian branch of Ecuador’s Produbank all joining as participants.

The loan is US dollar-denominated, which will allow importers to borrow and satisfy their import requirements, with exporters funding their own operation in the international currency of choice.

While no sector has been nominated to benefit specifically from the loan, it’s expected that Peru’s traditionally-strong industries of agriculture, commodities and mining are likely to capitalise.

Alejandro Jaramillo, head of loan structuring and syndication at Bladex, tells GTR that Banbif’s growing stature on the international stage helped generate serious interest from a diverse range of banks.

He says: “In the past, Banbif has had funding from banks such as Bladex and from multilateral institutions, but this is its first internationally-syndicated loan. It recently received investment grade from Fitch and an equity investment from the IFC, who bought into the shareholder structure. It’s growing and becoming more solid and sophisticated. It’s a good time for Banbif to go to the international market and its growth reflects that of Peru. Peru is one of the economies that are growing within Latin America.”

Last month [January] Bladex also arranged a US$75mn debut syndicated loan for Banco Internacional de Costa Rica (Bicsa). The 12-month facility will be used to on-lend to local clients and while the purpose of the on-lending hasn’t been confirmed, Jaramillo confirms that the bank is active in funding both trade finance and infrastructure projects.

This deal attracted six regional banks (in addition to Bladex), the details of which remain confidential.