Gunvor has closed its largest-ever Asian revolving credit facility (RCF) from a group of 32 lenders, as volatile oil prices buoy demand for commodities financing.
The US$1.37bn facility for Gunvor Singapore was significantly oversubscribed from its US$800mn launch, the trader said.
The 364-day RCF is guaranteed by Gunvor Group Ltd and will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance the existing 2025 deal, which was upsized to US$1.3bn during the accordion phase.
The active bookrunning mandated lead arrangers on the facility were China Citic Bank, DBS, MUFG and OCBC, in what Gunvor said was the biggest lending pool to participate in its Asian RCF to date.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Natixis and State Bank of India were bookrunning mandated lead arrangers. DBS was also syndication co-ordination agent and sustainability co-ordinator, while Naxtis was facility agent and legal and documentation agent.
China Minsheng Banking Corp, Nanyang Commercial Bank, along with the Bank of East Asia, joined the facility for the first time as lead arrangers and arranger, respectively.
Gunvor has maintained the annual deal’s sustainability-linked structure, which includes KPIs relating to the reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions, the company’s scope 3 emissions from time-chartered vessels, as well as renewables investments and human rights assessments.
The Swiss trader is the only top energy trader to use sustainability-linked lending, after its rival Trafigura stopped using the structure earlier this year.
Privately-held Gunvor reported a sharply lower net profit of US$104mn in 2025 compared to US$729mn the previous year, on US$144bn in revenue. The company booked US$462mn of “exceptional items” in the final quarter of the year, during which employees bought out the shares of co-founder and chief executive Torbjorn Tornqvist.
The trader also closed a US$1.5bn “backstop” facility in March to help weather a sudden upturn in oil prices caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“While the renewal of this year’s Asian revolving credit facility came at a time of a major market disruption, we received the biggest support in any of our [Asian RCF] so far,” said Jean Roh, Gunvor’s Asia-Pacific chief financial officer.
“This is the highest general syndication closing in terms of amount raised and number of participants. This major achievement is a testimony to the confidence that our long term and new finance partners are placing in our group, enabling Gunvor to develop further.”
