Global commodities trader Trafigura has gathered support from 40 banks to refinance part of its flagship European syndicated revolving credit facility (ERCF).

The one-year multi-currency facility was initially launched at US$1.5bn but was upscaled to US$2.05bn after being oversubscribed.

It will be used to refinance the maturing US$2.2bn one-year tranche of Trafigura’s existing US$5.725bn facility, which was closed in March 2018.

The 2018 ERCF is made up of two tranches, the other being a three-year US$3.535bn RCF with two one-year extension options. Trafigura has confirmed it is exercising the first extension option available on this tranche, thereby extending it by a year.

Christophe Salmon, CFO for Trafigura, says the facility was closed “at tighter pricing levels and with the support of a larger and more diverse bank group”.

“We were also pleased to see an overwhelming support for the extension of the three-year tranche of our 2018 ERCF which we ran concomitantly to the refinancing of the one-year credit facility,” he says.

Citi, Mizuho and MUFG Bank acted as active mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) and bookrunners.

ABN Amro, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Commerzbank acted as passive MLAs and bookrunners.

31 additional financial institutions joined the ERCF during syndication, totalling 40 banks.

The ERCF is one of a series of high-value deals that the global commodities trader has signed in various regions around the world in the past year, including a massive US$1.95bn debt package with mainly Asia Pacific lenders in October.

In March last year, Trafigura also secured a ¥72.64bn (US$682mn) term loan in Japan, supported by 19 Japanese banks.