MOSCOW, February 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russian state-run oil giant Rosneft has signed a deal to raise $14.2 billion in loans from international lenders, to purchase a 50 percent stake in the TNK-BP oil joint venture from the AAR consortium of four Russian billionaire shareholders, the company said on Wednesday.
“On February 13, 2013, Rosneft signed loan agreements for a total $14.212 billion. The capital will be used to acquire a 50 percent stake in TNK-BP Ltd from the AAR (Alfa, Access, Renova) Consortium,” Rosneft said in a statement.
The interest on the loan is among the lowest on the Russian corporate debt market, Rosneft said. The syndicated loan will bear an interest rate of LIBOR plus 2 percent, a banking source told Prime news agency.
The group of international banks which are acting as mandated lead arrangers and lenders includes Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, BTMU, Citibank, Credit Agricole, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo Banking Group, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Natixis, Nordea Bank, SMBC, Societe Generale, Unicredit Bank and Bank of China.
Rosneft announced landmark deals in the fall of 2012 to buy 100 percent of TNK-BP from British oil major BP and the AAR consortium, after years of ongoing conflict between the two shareholder groups.
Under the terms of the deals, BP will receive $17.1 billion in cash for its 50 percent stake plus stock representing 12.84 percent of Rosneft’s shares while AAR agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in the joint venture “for a cash consideration of $28 billion.”
Rosneft has previously secured $30 billion in loan commitments from international lenders to finance the TNK-BP purchase. Rosneft signed a deal in December to raise two loans worth a total of $16.8 billion to purchase BP’s 50 percent stake in TNK-BP.
