Cairo, 2 June 2017: – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has successfully closed a record $632.9 million and Euro 499.6 million dual-tenor dual-currency syndicated term loan facility.
Afreximbank announced in Cairo today that the general syndication stage of the $632,900,000 and Euro 499,552,000 facility, which the Bank raised in the Eurocurrency Loan Market, was originally signed on 12 May. General syndication lenders signed into the agreement on 30 May, making the facility the largest ever such facility for the Bank.
According to the Bank, the fact that the facility attracted a wide base of lenders from around the globe, but particularly from Asia and the Middle East, is evidence of the confidence which lenders have in Afreximbank.
“With 70 per cent of the commitments coming from Asia and the Middle East, this facility greatly enhances our drive to diversify our liability book by geography,” said Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services.
Mr. Denya said that Afreximbank would use the funds to repay existing debt but would also apply it to funding trade finance and to meeting general corporate purposes.
The Facility is structured as a dual-currency (Euro and US Dollar) and dual-tenor (two-year and three-year) syndicated facility, with about 80 per cent of the total amount falling into the three-year tranche, helping the Bank to lengthen its liability profile in the Eurocurrency loan funding space.
The facility attracted aggregate commitments amounting to the equivalent of $1.36 billion which, following a scale-back, resulted in a final facility size equivalent to $1.16 billion, with 35 banks joining.
Standard Chartered Bank served as coordinator, bookrunner and agent for the facility and was supported by 13 initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. These are: Bank ABC (Arab Banking Corporation B.S.C.); Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC; The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.; Barclays Bank Mauritius Limited; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Ltd.; Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft Filiale Luxemburg; Emirates NBD Capital Limited; Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited (London Branch); HSBC Bank plc.; ICBC (London) plc.; Mizuho Bank Ltd.; National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC; and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, Isle of Man Branch.
The 13 initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners were joined at the general syndication stage by AKA Ausfuhrkredit; Axis Bank; Bank of China; Bank of Taiwan; Banque Misr; Commercial Bank of Kuwait; Export-Import Bank of China; First Commercial Bank; State Bank of India; Chang Hwa Commercial Bank; Land Bank of Taiwan; Mega International Commercial Bank Co.; Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank; Barclays Bank Egypt; Ghana International Bank; KEB Hana Bank; Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank; The Export – Import Bank of the Republic of China; Export-Import Bank of Korea; and Federated Investors, Inc. as mandated lead arrangers and arrangers.
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Media Contact: Obi Emekekwue (oemekekwue@afreximbank.com; Tel. +202-2456-4238)
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About Afreximbank:
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is the foremost Pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. Its two basic constitutive documents are the Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations. Since 1994, it has approved more than $51 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $10.3 billion in 2016. Afreximbank had total assets of $9.4 billion as at 30 April 2016 and is rated BBB+ (GCR), Baa1 (Moody’s), and BBB- (Fitch). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo. For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com