Category: Loans

Argentine aluminum company Aluar is in the market with a $150m 3.5-year loan at Libor plus 115bp, according to bankers close to the deal. The loan is secured by receivables and will look to close by the end of 2007. The facility is being led by Calyon and JPMorgan and should be conducted as a club deal, with the company’s relationship banks expected to participate.

Argentine aluminum company Aluar is in the market with a $150m 3.5-year loan at Libor plus 115bp, according to bankers close to the deal. The loan is secured by receivables and will look to close by the end of 2007. The facility is being led by Calyon and JPMorgan and should be conducted as a club deal, with the company’s relationship banks expected to participate.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA is looking to refinance a $1.125bn 1-year facility it took out in January. The existing financing, led by BNP Paribas, pays Libor plus 100bp, and PDVSA will look to refinance at similar terms, according to bankers close to the process. It was tightened from an initial 115bp launch following an upgrade. A bank meeting is scheduled for November 26 in New York and BNP is again leading the process. Given today’s market conditions, PDVSA may find it difficult to clinch the kind of pricing it would have got just a few months back. A margin above 100bp looks likely. Credit committees have become more risk averse and syndicators are finding their home offices are far more willing to veto deals with risky profiles at a time that their own cost of funds is rising. On PDVSA’s current facility ABN AMRO is an MLA with a $175m ticket, followed by arrangers BLADEX, with a $130m ticket, and Banco do Brasil and JPMorgan, each with $100m tickets, according to Dealogic. PDVSA has ratings of BB minus/B1.

Banco Itau has this week taken its $200m 2-year loan to general syndication. The facility pays Libor plus 40bp, and counts on ING, Unicredit, HSBC, Unicredit, BofA and Standard Chartered as MLAs. Calyon has the books.

Santander’s Brazilian arm is raising $200m in the international loan market for working capital and trade-related funding. A $50m 3-year working capital facility has already been subscribed by MLAs, and pays 55bp over Libor. A $150m trade facility is now being syndicated out to retail at 45bp over Libor. Both tranches are bullets. So far, Wachovia, Calyon and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi have joined as MLAs. Standard Chartered is running the book.

Brazil’s Grupo Votorantim has tapped WestLB to arrange a 1-year bridge financing of between $600m-$800m for its acquisition of a cement company. The 1-year loan is heard to be paying well under 50bp over Libor, according to bankers away from the transaction. A group of MLA candidates has been tapped and a retail syndication is expected in early 2008. In November 2006, Votorantim Cimentos acquired Ribeirao Grande, a Brazilian cement company, for $195m, according to Dealogic.

Brazil’s Itau SA has sent out invitations for participation in a $200m 2-year facility last week. The deal will pay Libor plus 40bp plus an up front fee of 25bp, say bankers away from the deal. MLA tickets are $30m apiece. Calyon has sole books.

The IDB has approved a $500m conditional credit line to support the 2008-2014 investment program of Costa Rica’s state-owned utility, ICE. Loans granted from the line will be for 25 years, with a 5-year grace period and a variable interest rate. Local counterpart funds for these investments will total $120m, says the IDB. The resources will finance preliminary studies for new hydroelectric and geothermal generation projects, modernization of equipment at the Rio Macho hydroelectric plant and a program to dredge and restore the reservoirs of six hydroelectric plants to increase productivity and extend the life. Electricity demand is forecast to grow at about 5.4% a year and Costa Rica will apparently have to double its power generation capacity every 15 years. The IDB says that in next eight years alone, ICE will have to invest some $4bn in generation, transmission and distribution.

The IDB has approved a $500m conditional credit line to support the 2008-2014 investment program of Costa Rica’s state-owned utility, ICE. Loans granted from the line will be for 25 years, with a 5-year grace period and a variable interest rate. Local counterpart funds for these investments will total $120m, says the IDB. The resources will finance preliminary studies for new hydroelectric and geothermal generation projects, modernization of equipment at the Rio Macho hydroelectric plant and a program to dredge and restore the reservoirs of six hydroelectric plants to increase productivity and extend the life. Electricity demand is forecast to grow at about 5.4% a year and Costa Rica will apparently have to double its power generation capacity every 15 years. The IDB says that in next eight years alone, ICE will have to invest some $4bn in generation, transmission and distribution.

The Brazilian arm of Banco Santander has put out invitations for a $200m 3-year bullet. The financial institution is looking for $125m in trade financing at 45bp over Libor and $75m in working capital at 55bp over Libor, according to a banker away from the deal. Santander is looking for MLAs for the financing. Standard Chartered has sole books.