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Energy trader Gunvor has expanded the size of its European revolving credit facility (RCF) to US$1.89bn and drawn in a clutch of new lenders to the sustainability-linked deal.

The multi-currency agreement, signed in favour of the firm’s Dutch and Swiss entities, will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance the US$1.40bn tranche from last year’s European RCF, as well as a US$290mn tranche from the 2021 facility.

This year’s deal consists of two tranches, a US$1.53bn RCF with a 364-day tenor and three one-year extension options, as well as a US$350mn three-year facility with an option to extend by 12 months. The agreement includes a US$400mn accordion option.

As with last year’s facility, financing is tied to Gunvor’s performance on four key environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics, including the trader’s reduction of scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as well as scope 3 emissions “associated with the improvement of energy efficiency of the shipping fleet”.

Lenders will also assess Gunvor’s investments in non-fossil fuel projects, as well as the company’s assets, joint ventures and suppliers against human rights principles.

“Gunvor is delighted with the continuous support we have received from our financing partners. The growing capacity of the facility along with the new lenders demonstrate the strong relationship the company has with its core banking group,” says Jeff Webster, Gunvor Group’s CFO.

A total of six new financial institutions joined this year’s facility – CaixaBank, China CITIC, DBS, First Commercial Bank, OTP Bank, and Qatar National Bank. No banks dropped out this year, a Gunvor spokesperson tells GTR.

Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, ING, Natixis, Rabobank, SMBC, Société Générale, UBS and UniCredit Bank are bookrunning mandated lead arrangers (MLAs).

The same group, except for ApiCorp and UBS, serve as active bookrunners, while Credit Suisse returns as facility and swingline agent. Natixis and Société Générale are once again joint sustainability co-ordinators.

Senior MLAs include Citibank, China Construction Bank, Emirates NBD, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Mizuho Bank, and for the first time, Qatar National Bank.

DZ Bank and Erste Group act as MLAs while China CITIC Bank and KfW Ipex-Bank Limited – an arranger last year – join Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank as lead arrangers.

ABC International Bank, Afrasia Bank, Arab Bank, Banco BPM, Banque de Commerce et de Placements, Bank of China, CaixaBank, Commerzbank, DBS, Europe Arab Bank, First Commercial Bank, GarantiBank International, Habib Bank, Mashreqbank, OTP Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, and Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises are all arrangers.

Earlier in November, Gunvor’s US division expanded its uncommitted borrowing base facility to US$1.6bn with support from 18 lenders, despite what executives describe as a “challenging” market environment.

In April, Gunvor Group announced that it had posted record net profits of US$2.36bn in 2022, more than treble the year prior, amid significant price volatility and a rerouting of global energy flows following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.