OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2012. Sberbank of Russia announces that it has successfully closed the deal on a USD 1.5 billion syndicated loan provided by foreign banks, reported the press-centre of Sberbank.  

Bank of America Securities Limited, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Citibank N.A., HSBC Bank plc and ING Bank N.V., J.P. Morgan Limited, Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation acted as lead arrangers and bookrunners of the loan. The Bank of New York Mellon participated as a lead arranger while Commerzbank AG acted as joint arranger. Barclays Bank PLC coordinates the syndicated loan and acts as its paying agent.

The term of the deal is 3 years with the one-time payment at the end of this period while the interest rate for the loan is set at LIBOR+150 basis points. The loan was significantly oversubscribed already at the stage of forming the group of deal arrangers. At the same time, Sberbank decided on general syndication, which was positively received by the market.

The loan became the largest deal for Russian banks so far this year with the longest lending period. For their part, the deal's price parameters are record-breaking in this market conditions and correspond to the rates on previous syndicated loans for Sberbank provided in 2010 and 2011. The success of this deal underlines the importance of partnership relations between Sberbank of Russia and leading financial institutions in Europe, America and Asia.

Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, Sberbank of Russia, commented on the deal: "We are happy about expanding long-term relations with the banks participating in this syndicated loan, which became a symbolic event not only in the Russian but also in international financial markets."