Samarco Closes Club

Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco has closed a $335m 7-year club loan with margins heard coming in around Libor+140bp-150bp area. In the end, HSBC and WestLB joined Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Mizuho and SMBC, each participating with $67m tickets. Samarco, which is jointly owned by Vale and BHP Billiton, had originally asked for proposals on 7 and 10-year tenors, but the latter option was seen as far too ambitious, at least for international lenders. 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. That loan was for general corporate purposes, and for funding a $3bn expansion plan for 2011.