Fimbank plc has signed its one-year US$30 syndicated trade-related loan facility. Sanpaolo IMI (facility agent) and Standard Bank Plc (bookrunner) acted as mandated lead arrangers for the facility.

The facility was launched at US$15mn and following a 110% oversubscription closed at US$31.5mn. The borrower elected to take the oversubscription and a total of 15 banks participated in the transaction.

Repayment will be as a bullet.

The margin is Libor + 0.75% per year.

Lead arrangers are: Bank fur Arbeit und Wirtschaft, Dresdner Bank and Wachovia Bank.

Co-arrangers are: The Arab Investment Company, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, FBN Bank (UK), Indover Bank, Magyar Kulkereskedelmi Bank and Tunis International Bank

Managers: Anglo Irish Bank, Oberbank and American Express Bank.

Fimbank was established in Malta in November 1994 and commenced business operations in June 1995. The company’s core activities are international trade finance, including but not limited to ship pre-demolition finance, trade finance services provided to banks and trading companies, and commercial lending to trade-related customers.

Fitch Ratings has assigned Fimbank ratings of long-term ‘BB ‘, short-term ‘B’. The outlook for the long-term rating is stable.