Fibria to Sign Loan This Week

Fibria will sign an $800m loan this week, made up of a 4-year $500m revolver and a 5-year $300m pre-export credit facility, says CFO Joao Elek. “This will give comfort to the ratings agencies with respect to the liquidity profile of the company,” he says, adding that he thinks the company is close to being considered investment grade. The paper producer was upgraded in March to BB+ from BB by Fitch with a stable outlook and in April put out an RFP for loans. Fitch had placed Fibria on positive watch in December following its announcement of the sale of a 50% stake in Conpacel for BRL1.5bn. Fitch also assigns a BB+ rating to Fibria’s $750m in 2021 bonds. Deutsche Bank, Santander, Credit Agricole, JPMorgan, HSBC, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citibank, Nordea, WestLB and ING are involved in the club deal.