Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco, which is jointly owned by Vale and BHP Billiton, has chosen Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Mizuho and SMBC to form part of a $400m club deal, according to bankers with knowledge of the transaction. Samarco is expected to choose an additional two or three banks for the deal. The 7-year export pre-payment loan is expected to close as soon as next week, say market participants. The world’s second-largest exporter of iron ore pellets closed a $400m 5-year club deal in December. BNP, HSBC, ING, RBS and SMBC committed $80m each, at a spread of 160bp over Libor. The loan was for general corporate purposes, and for funding a $3bn expansion plan for 2011, according to bankers with knowledge of the transaction.
Category: Loans
Posted inDaily Brief
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.
Posted inDaily Brief
IDB Gives Dominican Republic Loan
Dominican Republic’s Banco BHD will receive $17.5m from the IDB. It will consist of a $5m senior 5-year loan and a $12.5m 8-year loan, says the bank. The proceeds will be used to lend to corporate and SME clients. The subordinated loan will also help to strengthen Banco BHD’s capital structure, as it will meet Tier 2 capital criteria.
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IDB Gives Loan to Costa Rica
The IDB has provided Costa Rica with a $132.4m loan with a 25-year maturity and a 5-year grace period. The loan will finance a program to reduce youth crime, for rehabilitation and to strengthen the police force. Costa Rica will contribute $55.3m to the program, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Justice and Peace. Funds will also go towards creating an agency for violence prevention, which will be the first of its kind in LatAm.
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OneLink Takes Out Loans
Puerto Rico’s San Juan Cable (OneLink), a cable television provider, will take out a $25m revolver due May 2016, a $345m term loan due May 2017, and a $150m term loan due May 2018, according to a Moody’s release. The company would not comment on pricing or say which banks are providing the loans. The loans will be used together with cash on hand to repay the company’s existing debt and to fund an approximately $25m distribution to its equity holders.
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Pemex Trading Extends Commitment Deadline
PMI, the trading arm of Mexico’s Pemex, has extended the deadline for commitments for its loan amendment, according to market participants. The deadline had been for last Thursday, but was extended to this week as some banks asked for more time to respond, says a banker with knowledge of the transaction. The company is looking to upsize a 3-year syndicated loan from the $500m originally taken out in January 2010 to $700m, according to market participants. Pricing is heard to be 125bp over Libor, say bankers with knowledge of the transaction. The original deal priced at Libor plus 225bp. Bank meetings were held in New York in April. Existing lenders were given the option of increasing their tickets and new banks were also invited. Around 30 banks are said to have attended the meeting. BBVA, Calyon, Natixis, RBS and SocGen, which were the leads on the original deal, have returned to lead the amended deal.
Posted inDaily Brief
Samarco Gets Big Response
Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco, which is jointly owned by Vale and BHP Billiton, has received over 24 proposals following its RFP for a $400m export pre-payment term loan, according to a banker with knowledge of the transaction. The issuer is looking to compile a shortlist of banks, with leads defined by the end of the week, the banker says. Samarco is said to be looking for either a 7-year or 10-year maturity, according to market participants. Lenders say such a maturity is longer than the usual 5-year, an extension likely being driven by a lack of paper in the market. The world’s second-largest exporter of iron ore pellets closed a $400m, 5-year club deal in December. BNP, HSBC, ING, RBS and SMBC committed $80m each, at a spread of 160bp over Libor. The loan was for general corporate purposes, and to help fund a $3bn expansion plan for 2011, according to bankers with knowledge of the transaction. Samarco’s parent companies approved a $3.5bn investment last week to expand production capacity at its fourth iron ore pellet plant.
Posted inDaily Brief
Quiroz Galvao Puts Out RFP
Quiroz Galvao has put out an RFP for a 6-year syndicated loan for the purposes of building two drill ships, according to market participants. The deadline is the end of this week, according to syndicated loans bankers. The two projects are expected to cost around $1.3bn in total, including an equity stake, which will make up around 20% of the investment, says one syndicated loans banker. Export credit agencies, as well as banks, are expected to participate in the deal, he adds. The Brazilian construction and oil & gas company took out a 7-year syndicated loan last year for $575m to build oil platform Alpha Star. The spread was 250bp over Libor for the construction period and 225bp over Libor for the post-construction period. Citi and Santander were the leads.
Posted inDaily Brief
WB Gives Argentina $400m Loan
The World Bank has approved a $400m 27-year loan with a 6.5-year grace period to Argentina for a project to improve access to health care for those without insurance. The purpose of the loan is to expand healthcare coverage to up to 70% of the Argentine population. The project will support coverage in the provinces for high cost illnesses as well as general healthcare services and the strengthening of the National Health Ministry and Provincial Health Ministries in areas such as management and assessment practices.
Posted inMagazine
Corporate Flow
DCM issuance began to pick up again in March and April after a weak start to the year, though the message remained the same: buyers were more selective than in […]