Loan week, November 12-18

A roundup of the latest syndicated loan market news.

Australia

Alumina’s $320 million dual-tranche facility was successfully secured on November 12 via sole bookrunner ANZ.

The revolver is split into a $107 million three-year portion and a $213 million five-year facility.

Syndication saw Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, BNP Paribas and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp come in as mandated leads, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of Nova Scotia and Westpac joined in as lead arrangers. Cathay United Bank rounded out the syndicate as an arranger.

Proceeds are for general corporate purposes.

China

Gansu Guazhou Xiehe Wind Power, sponsored by China WindPower, has obtained a $140 million project financing via IFC.

The financing is split into a $45 million 12-year A loan and a $95 million 10-year B loan.

IFC funded the A loan, while three commercial banks -- Intesa Sanpaolo, Rabobank and Societe Generale -- joined in the B loan as mandated lead arrangers.

Proceeds are to support the development of a wind farm in Guazhou, China.

Hong Kong

Parkson Retail Group’s $250 million financing was signed last week via bookrunners CIMB Bank (Labuan), DBS Bank, J.P. Morgan, Natixis and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).

The three-year financing is priced at 215bp over Libor and is guaranteed by its subsidiaries.

Bank of China (Macau), Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), Nanyang Commercial Bank, Maybank (Hong Kong), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (Labuan) and Tai Fung Bank came in as mandated arrangers, while Bank of Taiwan (Hong Kong), Cathay United Bank (Hong Kong) and Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) joined in as lead arrangers.

Bangkok Bank (Hong Kong), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), Chinatrust Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank (Macau), Taiwan Business Bank (Offshore Banking) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (Hong Kong) were the arrangers, while Bank Sinopac (Hong Kong) and Industrial Bank of Taiwan (Hong Kong) ended up as senior mangers.

Proceeds are to pre-pay $125 million of senior notes maturing in 2012 and for working capital purposes.

India

A Rs5.7 billion dual-tranche facility for Archean Chemical Industries was sealed on November 15 via sole bookrunner and mandated lead arranger SBI Capital Markets.

The term loan is split into a Rs2.6 billion 10-year tranche and a $68 million eight-year portion that will be repaid in 28 quarterly and 10 semi-annual installments respectively.

Syndication saw Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India contribute as participants.

Proceeds are to set up a composite marine chemicals complex at Hajipir, Kutch district, India.

A Rs4.5 billion 14-year term loan for Indore Dewas Tollways was signed on November 11 via sole bookrunner and mandated lead SBI Capital Markets.

Final allocations saw participants Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India commit Rs1.5 billion each, while Punjab Sind Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad gave Rs1.0 billion and Rs500 million respectively.

Proceeds are for a highway construction project in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.

Malaysia

Gamuda’s $60 million five-year term loan has been sealed on a club basis via mandated lead arrangers Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Natixis.

Syndication saw the leads contribute equally to the financing.

Proceeds are for working capital, capital expenditure and refinancing purposes.

Singapore

General syndication of a $7.5 billion acquisition financing for Bharti Airtel was concluded in early November via a consortium of 11 underwriters. The loan is borrowed via two SPVs -- Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) and Bharti International (Singapore).

The term loan is split into a $2.2 billion six-year tranche A1, a $800 million six-year tranche A2, a $1.6 billion five-year tranche B1, a $600 million five-year tranche B2, a $1.1 billion four-year tranche C1, a $400 million four-year tranche C2, a $550 million three-year tranche D1 and a $200 million three-year tranche D2.

Underwriters Standard Chartered Bank took $1.1 billion, while Barclays lent $777 million. ANZ, Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Singapore), BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, DBS Bank, HSBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (Singapore) gave $518 million each, while State Bank of India held $500 million.

Intesa SanPaolo (Hong Kong) and Deutsche Bank joined in as bookrunners with $400 million and $300 million respectively. Lead arrangers Export Development Canada lent $150 million, while arrangers Bank of Nova Scotia contributed $50 million. Lead manager Chinatrust Commercial Bank (Singapore) took $25 million, while managers National Bank of Kuwait (Singapore) and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (Singapore) ended up with $15 million apiece.

Proceeds are to finance the acquisition of the African assets of Zain Telecom.

An $85 million-equivalent three-year multi-currency term loan for BOC Aviation was closed in late October via mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners Citibank and DBS Bank.

The bullet loan was upsized from $75 million and is split into a $20 million tranche and a $65 million tranche.

Final allocations saw the leads take $25 million each, while lead arrangers Bank of Communications (Singapore) and Bank of East Asia contributed $20 million and $15 million respectively.

Proceeds are for general corporate purposes.

Lend Lease Retail Investment’s S$680 million 4.5-year facility was completed on November 12 via sole bookrunner Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

The deal is split into a S$660 million term loan and a S$20 million revolver.

DBS contributed as a mandated lead arranger, while Maybank joined in as a lead arranger. Bank of China, Bank of East Asia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank participated as senior arrangers.

Proceeds are to refinance a S$660 million facility signed in 2006 and for working capital purposes.

Taiwan

A $475 million five-year revolving credit for Inventec Corp was signed last week via mandated leads Bank of Taiwan, Cathay United Bank, E Sun Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Taiwan Business Bank and Taiwan Cooperative Bank. The deal was oversubscribed and upsized from $400 million.

The revolver is priced at 57bp over Libor with a 10bp commitment fee.

Final allocations saw the leads contribute $40 million each, while participant Chang Hwa Commercial Bank and Yuanta Commercial Bank took $35 million and $20 million, respectively. Chinatrust Commercial Bank and Shanghai Commerical & Savings Bank came in with $10 million.

Proceeds are for refinancing a $240 million revolving facility signed in July 2008 and working capital purposes.

Joyin’s NT$500 million three-year secured facility has been sealed via joint bookrunners Mega International Commercial Bank and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank.

The two-year extendible revolver offers a spread of 140bp over the 90-day secondary CP rate.

Syndication saw Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Chinatrust Commercial Bank and First Commercial Bank join in as mandated lead arrangers, while DBS Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank, Taishin International Bank, Taiwan Business Bank and Taiwan Cooperative Bank ended up as lead managers.

Proceeds are for repaying an existing debt and for working capital purposes.

A NT$5.0 billion multi-tranche facility for Pacific Sogo has been completed via bookrunners Chang Hwa Commercial Bank and Taiwan Cooperative Bank.

The facility is split into a NT$3.2 billion seven-year term loan, a NT$1.0 billion one-year renewable guarantee facility and an NT$800 million revolving credit. The term loan and revolver are priced at 65bp over the 90-day secondary CP rate with an interest rate floor of 1.45% for the first year.

First Commercial Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank and Yuanta Commercial Bank were the mandated lead arrangers. Agricultural Bank of Taiwan, Bank of Kaohsiung, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Mega Bills Finance Corp, Taishin International Bank and Taiwan Cooperative Bills Finance Corp were the participants.

Proceeds are for purchasing equipments and working capital.

Yieh Hsing Enterprise obtained a NT$3.8 billion credit facility last week via lead arrangers Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank, Taiwan Business Bank and Taiwan Cooperative Bank.

The upsized facility consists of a NT$3.6 billion seven-year term loan and a NT$210 million guarantee facility.

Agricultural Bank of Taiwan, Bank of Taiwan, First Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Mega Bills Finance and Taichung Commercial Bank joined the deal at lower tiers.

Proceeds are for refinancing an existing facility signed in June 2005 and for working capital purposes.

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