October 07, 2008

Evraz\'s IPSCO loan reduced to USD 500 million – Report

Reuters quoted a banker as saying that Russian steel maker Evraz Group's syndicated bridge loan has been reduced to USD 500 million following the company's recent USD 1.6 billion Eurobond transaction.

The banker said "I think it is safe to assume you can take USD 1.6 billion off the original loan amount."

Evraz announced recently that it had completed a Eurobond transaction totaling USD 1.6 billion, consisting of five year and ten year tranches. It said proceeds were for general corporate purposes, including financing of the recently announced IPSCO acquisition.

The USD 2.1 billion nine month loans launched to syndication earlier this month. The deal pays a margin of 150 basis points for the first three months, then 200 bps for the next three months and 250 bps thereafter.

Arranging banks are ABN AMRO and Calyon. Reuters reported recently that the original USD 2.1 billion loans to back the borrower's purchase of IPSCO's North American plate and pipe business from Sweden's SSAB had been reduced, though a new loan amount was not disclosed.