Usiminas Seeks $1.07bn in Bilateral Financing

Brazil’s Usiminas wants to supplement its aggressive capital and bank market financing activities with additional loans totaling $1.07bn from multilaterals, state and development banks. The company’s board has approved a plan to obtain a $550m 10-year loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, as well as a BRL200m 2-year loan from Banco do Brasil. The Brazilian steelmaker is also in discussions for a loan of up to $400m from the IDB. It did not disclose an exact timetable to obtain the loans. With an ambitious capex plan to fund, Usiminas has sold BRL500m in local debentures and $400m in 7.25% 10-year overseas bonds this year. It is also wrapping up syndication of a $1.2bn loan facility, with 5 and 7-year tranches, paying 110bp and 135bp over Libor, respectively, via HSBC.