African trade finance lender Afreximbank signed a well oversubscribed refinancing facility on Wednesday, with the deal bringing in much more than its $300m-equivalent target.
The bank came to the market at the end of January looking for a dual currency loan, split between a $180m tranche and a €92m ($120m) piece, to refinance a $300m facility. Both tranches pay margins of 225bp.
“It has gone way beyond $300m,” said a loans banker, although he declined to give the exact figure. “It was an absolute blowout.”
Initial mandated lead arrangers’ commitments, signed on March 27, were enough to lift the loan amount over $300m and the borrower increased the loan, even after some lenders scaled back commitments. More than 30 banks joined the final deal sheet.
BTMU co-ordinated the deal and was joined by Arab Banking Corp, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, HSBC, ICBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered as initial mandated lead arrangers.
The loan will refinance two tranches of a March 2010 facility. The deal paid variable all-in pricing that offered 350bp for the senior lenders. The bank is rated Baa2 by Moody’s and BBB- by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.