Standard Bank signs US$175 million syndicated term loan

The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) has signed a US$175 million, 364 day syndicated term loan. The transaction, which is a debut SBSA transaction in the Middle East, was launched at US$100 million and was well oversubscribed. The facility is priced at 130 basis points over Libor.

The twelve participating banks in the transaction are MashreqBank PSC (mandated lead arranger and bookrunner), Al Khalij Commercial Bank Q.S.C., Arab Banking Corporation B.S.C., China Construction Bank Corporation, Johannesburg Branch, Doha Bank Q.S.C., Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Abu Dhabi Branch, Samba Financial Group and Union National Bank PJSC (the mandated lead arrangers), Bank of China Limited, Johannesburg Branch, The Commercial Bank of Qatar (QSC) and Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberosterreich Aktiengesellschaft (the arrangers), and Credit Libanais SAL (the manager). MashreqBank PSC, was appointed as facility agent.

"We are delighted to have raised such a sizeable amount. This is a reflection of Standard Bank's standing in the international financial community. However, due to recent changes in short term liquidity pools around the globe, we decided not to avail of the full committed amount," says Simon Ridley, Standard Bank Group Financial Director.

The money will be used for the general corporate purposes by SBSA, including trade-related finance.