Grupo R Floats Juicy Platform Loan

Mexico’s Grupo R is leading the field of 2010 offshore platform financings with a $463m loan to finance the acquisition of a deepwater submersible drilling platform. The transaction was quietly launched in the last week of December with 1-on-1 meetings between BBVA and prospective lenders, say executives eyeing the process. With a firm closing deadline in March, the Mexican sponsor is offering what some bankers call attractive yields to get it syndicated. The 5-year comes with no construction period and accompanying risk, since the vessel’s Singapore-based maker is in the final weeks of building. A banker away from the deal says this is one of the draws of the transaction, which offers Libor plus 375bp in the first 2 years, 400bp in years 3 and 4 and 425bp in the fifth and final year. From a credit standpoint, Grupo R includes one aspect that introduces a higher degree of risk, according to a banker looking at it. Pemex, the offtaker and provider of the drilling contract, guarantees a fixed daily rate for the first 2 years but switches to a market-based remuneration in year 3. While this can potentially include upside for the sponsor who stands to see its daily rate adjusted higher, a downwards revision could reduce collateralization, thus weakening the overall credit profile, says the banker. Still, yields offered are widely seen as fair to attractive, especially the upfront fee of 300bp. Tickets of $75m are being shopped by BBVA, which is heard committing $100m. Lenders including Natixis, SMBC, SocGen, WestLB, BES and BNP are seen as likely participants, though no additional lenders have been confirmed. Grupo R’s last foray into the platform financing market was in July 2008, when it raised $600m through a 7.5-year syndicated loan for a ship called La Muralla III, led by WestLB and BBVA. It paid Libor plus 175bp for construction and post-completion.