ING Bank, acting as mandated lead arranger, has successfully closed a syndicated committed bond facility in the amount of US$500mn for Glencore, initially launched at US$200mn.

The loan is a one-year facility whereby the borrower may issue various types of bonds (including bid and performance bonds, standby LCs) and financial guarantees.

This is the first time such a committed bonding facility has been arranged in the syndicated bank market. It represents an addition to Glencore’s committed liquidity for margin calls and a substantial increase in bonding capacity.

The mandated lead arranger has been joined in this facility by a group of lead arrangers consisting of BNP Paribas, RBS, UFJ Bank, ABN Amro, a group of arrangers consisting of KBC Bank, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Bayerische HypoVereinsbank, SEB AG Merchant Banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and a group of co-arrangers comprising ANZ, Credit Suisse, HSBC Bank, Luzerner Kantonalbank and National Austalia Bank.

Glencore International AG, based in Baar, Switzerland, is a leading privately-held, diversified natural resources company with worldwide activity in the smelting, refining, mining, processing, purchasing, selling and marketing of metals and minerals, energy products and agricultural products.
Glencore International AG is rated BBB- (stable) and Baa3 (stable) respectively by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s . For the 2003 fiscal year, Glencore’s turnover was US$54.6bn, total assets were US$15bn and total shareholders equity was US$3bn as at December 31, 2003.