OREANDA-NEWS. On 15 February 2008 En+ Group Ltd, the energy company that is part of Basic Element, announced that it has completed an agreement with a consortium of international banks to receive a US$750 million loan. This is En+ Group’s first significant syndicated loan from the international debt markets and the proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and for new projects in the Russian energy sector. The loan has a tenor of three years.
 
The US$750 million facility was underwritten by a strong group of seven Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers: ABN AMRO, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Natixis, RZB, and syndicated to thirteen further international banks.  The initial size of the facility of US$700m was increased to US$750m following a positive response from the syndicated loan market.
 
“We are very pleased that the market showed strong support for En+, especially given that this was our first major syndicated loan issuance and it occurred at a difficult time in the credit markets.  We see this as an endorsement of the confidence the markets have in our underlying assets, including 66% of United Company Rusal, and our power generating assets in EuroSibEnergo”, - Michael Nossal, CFO of En+, commented.
 
“This facility has allowed En+ to form a core relationship banking group. The success of the deal is a result of the borrower’s credit strengths”, said a spokesperson for the Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers..
 
 The final syndicate is detailed below:
 
 Abn Amro    Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Credit Suisse    Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Deutsche Bank   Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Goldman Sachs   Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Morgan Stanley   Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Natixis     Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
RZB     Initial Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner
Barclays Bank Plc   Mandated Lead Arranger
Caja Madrid    Mandated Lead Arranger
Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. Arranger
KfW     Arranger
NordLB    Arranger
VTB Bank (Austria) AG  Arranger
Alpha Bank A.E.   Co-Arranger
BNP Paribas    Co-Arranger
Calyon     Co-Arranger
MKB Bank Zrt   Co-Arranger
OTP Bank Plc    Co-Arranger
Standard Bank Plc   Co-Arranger
Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd Participant