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.
Category: Loans
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.
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.
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 […]
Honduras Gets IDB Loans
The IDB has given Honduras two loans for a combined total of $37m, the multilateral says in a release. The first loan is for $25.9m and has a 30 year maturity, with a 5.5 year grace period. The announcement did not specify the interest rate of the first loan. The second loan is for $11.1m, has a maturity and grace period of 40 years and an interest rate of 0.25%, adds the release. The loans will be used to improve basic education for the country’s poorest children. The proceeds will go towards new books, educational materials, computers and teacher training.
Bimbo Gets Cheaper Financing
Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo managed to get significantly tighter pricing on the $1.3bn loan it took out to refinance an existing loan, says a company official, reducing its interest rate to 3.9% from 5.7%, according to a company official. Bimbo refinanced the remaining portion of the $900m loan it used for the Weston takeover in 2009. The company decided to refinance the facility because pricing has become more attractive than when the loan was originally arranged, says a banker with knowledge of the transaction. The original loan expired in 2014, and will now mature in 2016. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BBVA, Citi, HSBC, ING and Santander were in the original transaction and acted as bookrunners, with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi coming in as a new lender and bookrunner. Mizuho and JP Morgan came in as new lenders, and Barclays also took a ticket, as it did in the original transaction. The facility will be wholly dollar-denominated, whereas the original transaction was available in pesos or dollars.
Cifi Visits Investors
Corporacion Interamericana para el Financiamiento de Infraestructura, (Cifi) is meeting fixed income investors this week. The Panama-incorporated, Washington-based lender is visiting US, Europe and LatAm buyers on a “non-deal” basis this week and next week through Tuesday, according to bankers managing the process. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered are managing. The bank, which lends to infrastructure projects in the region, has yet to issue a cross-border bond, according to Dealogic. Cifi is owned by a group of multilateral and private banks, including HSBC, Caja Madrid, La Caixa, Itau, IFC, Caribbean Development Bank and Cabei.
JPMorgan Leads IB Advisory Fees
JPMorgan leads the ranks of investment banking advisory fees, according to Dealogic. As of April 25, JPMorgan squeaked past Credit Suisse, generating $85.4m in fees for a 12.9% share of the pie, versus Credit Suisse’s $84.7, and 12.8%. CS maintains its position from a year ago, while Itau drops from the second to third spot with $81.8m in fees for 12.4% of the total. Citi maintains its position as the number 4 advisor. Overall, fees are up significantly from a year ago, reaching $661m from $528m in 2010 according to Dealogic, a 25% jump. Deutsche and Goldman, which scored the 7 and 8 spots last year, respectively, drop out of the top 10 this year, while Morgan Stanley and HSBC appeared at the 7 and 9 spots after failing to make the list by this point last year. DCM fees leapt to $173m from $137m over a year ago, a 26% increase, while ECM revenue grew to $299m from $199m a year ago, a 50% increase. MYA advisory fees, on the other hand, are down slightly to $156m from $166m in 2010. Although Credit Suisse came in first in M&A fees with $31m and 19.6% of the total, it did even not make the top 5 in ECM fee ranking. JPMorgan, meanwhile, came in second in M&A fees and took the third spot in both DCM and ECM revenues.
Bladex Upsizes Syndicated Loan
Bladex has upsized its 3-year syndicated loan to $270m, from $250m, and has closed the syndication process, according to market participants. Pricing on the deal is Libor + 120bp. The multinational bank is offering fees of 75bp for $30m tickets, 70bp for $25m tickets, 65bp for $20m tickets and 60bp for $15m tickets, say bankers with knowledge of the transaction. The bank was also offering an early bird fee of an extra 10bp for any banks that committed by April 8. International banks and at least one local bank are heard to be participating in the deal. BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered are bookrunners on the loan, which is expected to close around April 27.
Traveli to Get $30m Loan
Traveli, a mining firm with operations in Canada and Peru, has signed a term sheet for a $30m debt facility from West LB. The term loan will be used to develop its zinc, lead and silver mine in Peru. A spokesperson for Traveli says maturity, pricing and terms are yet to be determined, but will be finalized once WestLB completes its due diligence, which is expected to be within the next two weeks.