Sberbank of Russia is to sign a 3-year loan agreement for $1.2 bln this week, several sources in the banking circles told Interfax-AFI. A source said there is a strong likelihood for this to happen on Thursday. Another source close to one of the lead arrangers failed to name any exact date for this deal to be closed. “For the time being, it is difficult to say when the agreement is to be signed. The timeframe could be extended, I have no wish to say this for certain” — the same source said.
The loan sum will remain unchanged and be equal to $1.2 bln. As wired earlier, the interest rate is planned to be LIBOR + 0.85%. Mandated lead arrangers involve ABN AMRO, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank (London Branch), DZ BANK, ING, Intesa, J. P. Morgan, SMBCE, UniCredit and WestLB (London Branch).
Last time Sberbank took a syndicated loan at the end of December 2007. The $750 mln 3-year syndicated loan (with the 2-year prolongation option) was granted at LIBOR + 0.45%.
Based on H108 performance, Sberbank was No. 1 in terms of assets in the Interfax-100 ranking, prepared by Interfax-CEA. The Bank of Russia is the lender’s major shareholder (60.27% of common shares).
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