Metals trader Ocean Partners has opened its first revolving credit facility (RCF), worth US$160mn. The facility was finalised on August 1 and the trader has already drawn down on it. It will be used for sourcing goods and financing the company’s Taiwanese business. ING acted as co-ordinator, document agent and security agent, with ABN Amro as facility agent.

Both banks were also bookrunning mandated lead arrangers (MLAS). Also mandated lead arrangers were Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered, with HSBC and Rabobank (both Hong Kong branches) coming in as lead arrangers. Banque de Commerce et de Placements, Bank Leumi and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acted as arrangers.

The facility initially launched at US$125mn in March, but was oversubscribed by 100%. Ocean Partners settled for US$160mn, with company treasurer Sam Wooldridge telling GTR that “there was no point taking the additional number because it’s surplus to requirements”. The current figure gives the company some flexibility, he says. Specifically, the RCF will be used to purchase, store, blend and sell metal concentrates and to refinance existing debt. The company trades copper, zinc and lead concentrates. Wooldridge says the company is “very happy” with the terms the market offered and is pleased at the clear market demand to lend to Ocean Partners, saying the banks see it as “good business”, being self-liquidating. He continues: “The deal wasn’t syndicated to market as such, but was done using our existing trade finance banks. The nature of the business is quite specific so we wanted to keep banks that we knew. It made it a lot easier for us to get the deal done and now that we have it running it’s working very well.”

On Ocean Partners decision to launch its debut RCF, Wooldridge says: “It was the right time in terms of the business as opposed to market conditions. The business we’re operating in is quite complicated. Using the number of banks we have, we felt this was the easiest way forward. It’s already showing that it’s a lot easier. If you’re involving several banks in general lending it can be quite time consuming but having one lead facility agent takes a lot of the work out of your hands.”