OREANDA-NEWS. On August 17, 2007 Home Credit & Finance Bank LLC ("HCFB") [Moody's Ba3/NP/D-, S&P B+/В], one of the leading banks specializing in consumer banking in Russia, has successfully closed an EUR 265 million syndicated loan facility, reported the press-centre of HCFB.

The Senior Term Loan Facility was arranged by Calyon and Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG as the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners. Other participating banks included ABN AMRO, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Raiffeisenbank Austria (ZAO) as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Barclays Bank Plc, BNP Paribas Ireland, ZAO Citibank, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, ING Wholesale Banking, Komercni banka a.s, Prague, Merrill Lynch Capital Corporation, Standard Bank Plc as Co-Arrangers.

The facility has a tenor of one year and pays a margin of 195 bp over Euribor . The Facility Agreement was signed on 14th August 2007.

The transaction was launched on the 10th July 2007 to a group of selected relationship banks of HCFB and PPF Group, HCFB's ultimate parent, which were invited to bid for take and hold tickets. During the syndication the deal became oversubscribed, and HCFB elected to increase the facility amount from an initial EUR 250 million to EUR 265 million.

On the transaction, Dmitri Mosolov, Deputy Chairman of HCFB Management Board said:

"We are pleased with this important benchmark transaction which demonstrates the level of confidence and support for Home Credit and Finance Bank's business from a select group of its relationship banks. The facility was arranged under costs reflecting the current state of the credit markets. It provides HCFB with proceeds which will be used for financing the further growth of HCFB's consumer loan portfolio in the second half of this year. It also represents a further step in our strategy for diversifying our funding sources."

Robert Potac, Managing Director, Funding, Home Credit Group, commented on the outcome of the transaction: "We approached core relationship banks of both the PPF Group and the Home Credit Group requesting size, flexibility and an ability to complete the transaction in Summer. The level of support has been strong with the banks moving quickly to meet our requirements. In return, the deal has been priced at a level enabling both HCFB and the banks to benefit."