Kazakhstan’s JSC Eurasian Bank has executed a one-year US$50mn syndicated term loan facility with Standard Bank Plc as mandated lead arranger, bookrunner, documentation agent and facility agent.

The facility was launched into the market at US$30m following a 67% oversubscription from 17 banks, finally closed at US$50mn. The bank elected to take the whole oversubscription.

This is the second international syndicated loan for Eurasian. The debut syndicated loan for US$15mn was arranged by Standard Bank Plc in November 2004.

The facility is for financing trade-related transactions of the borrower’s major customers.

Repayment will be bullet. The maturity is one year from the date of signing of the agreement.

The margin is Libor + 2.50% per year.

Anglo-Romanian Bank is lead arranger with Mashreqbank.

Arrangers are: AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft, Bank Muscat, Bankgesellschaft Berlin, Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China, State Bank of India Los Angeles, Bank of Montreal, Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International, International Moscow Bank, National Bank of Egypt (UK), Parex banka, Rietumu Banka, UBAE Arab Italian Bank, and Wachovia Bank.

Adria Bank is lead manager. Eurasian was incorporated in Kazakhstan in December 1994 and obtained its banking licence in February 1995.
As of June 30, 2005, Eurasian was ranked eighth in terms of capital (US$107.6mn including subordinated debt) and sixth in terms of net income (US$11.2mn).

Until 2000 the bank was owned by Aluminium of Kazakhstan, Sokolovsko-Sarbaysky Mining & Metal Enriching Consortium, Kazchrome, Eurasian Financial Industrial Company (EFIC) and Eurasia Ltd. These companies sold their shares to EFIC in 2000 after concluding that banking was not part of their core business. Currently, EFIC is the sole owner of Eurasian Bank. Aluminium of Kazakhstan, Sokolovsko-Sarbaysky Mining & Metal Enriching Consortium and Kazchrome remain strategic customers and the largest depositors of the bank.

Eurasian’s business activities consist of commercial business, trading with securities, foreign currencies and derivative instruments, originating loans and guarantees and custody operations.

The bank has 13 branches, from just three branches in 2003, in the cities of Aksu, Rudny, Aktobe, Karaganda, Astana, Almaty, Kostanay, Atyrau, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Taraz, Aktau, Pavlodar and Uralsk, and two client service centres in the city of Lisakovsk (Kostanay Region) and the urban settlement of Zhayrem (Karaganda Region).

Over the next few months the bank’s management plans to open two more branches in Petropavlovsk and Shymkent, and two client service centres in the city of Saran “(Karaganda Region) and the settlement of Kachar (Kostanay Region). By growing its branch network the bank looks to bring the product range closer to customers in the new regions.