The company said in a news release that the transaction represents a benchmark deal in the Russian syndicated loan market in terms of tenor and pricing. It is the first five-year, unsecured revolving credit facility with a bullet repayment for a Russian borrower.
Norilsk Nickel will pay a margin of 42.5bps over Libor in the first three years, increasing to 50bps for the fourth ands fifth years.
The facility was arranged, fully underwritten and syndicated by Barclays Capital (the investment banking division of Britain-based Barclays Bank PLC), the Netherlands' ING Bank N.V and French-located Societe Generale Corporate investment banking division.
Societe Generale is also acting as facility agent and documentation agent. The loan syndication was heavily oversubscribed and Norilsk Nickel elected to increase the facility size to $450 million from the original launch amount of $300 million.
Norilsk Nickel is the world's leading producer of nickel and palladium, one of the largest producers of platinum and one of the top ten producers of copper in the world.
In 2005, Norilsk Nickel recorded revenues of $7.2 billion with strong EBITDA margin and cash flow generation. In the first half of 2006, Norilsk Nickel's revenues reached $4.2 billion.
The company is rated Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
