Russian nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel has closed a US$2.1bn, five-year syndicated loan.

The finance is structured in two parts: a US$1.575bn amortising term loan and a US$525mn revolving credit facility (RCF). The term loan is priced at Libor plus 1.75% while the RCF comes in at Libor plus 1.35%.

There are 16 lenders in the syndicate, namely: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Nordea Bank, Rosbank, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Dublin Limited, Société Générale, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) and UniCredit.

Société Générale acted as documentation agent, market hedge provider and structured rate agency, UniCredit as facility agent, market hedge provider and structured rate agency, BTMU and ING as information agents, Barclays as structured rate agent and market hedge provider. Law firm Linklaters CIS represented the lenders while the borrower is represented by Debevoise & Plimpton.

Norilsk, which is the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, says in a statement that it may return to the market for further syndication in the near future. It will use the finance for general corporate purposes and the refinancing of short-term debt maturities.

The company’s CFO Sergey Malyshev says: “We are pleased with the particularly attractive terms of the transaction which confirms our positioning as a reliable borrower with strong credit metrics perceived by the international banking community as a global player in the metals and mining industry. The facility extends the company’s debt maturity profile following recent successful placement of a US$750mn eurobond.”