Ferrexpo Receives USD 275 mln Syndicated Loan To Restructure Debts
9 January 2008
On December 28, Poltava Iron Ore’s (PGOK: HOLD) majority shareholder, Ferrexpo announced that it had received a four-year USD 275 mln syndicated loan. According to Ferroexpo the loan will be used to restructure and pay off some of the company’s USD 130 mln in outstanding debts and finance CAPEX plans. The loan was organized by ABN Amro, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale. Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Eugene Cherviachenko: PGOK plans to expand iron ore mining (from 25 mln mt to 30 mln mt per annum) and pellet manufacturing capacity (from ~8 mln mt to ~11-14 mln mt per annum) by 2010. Ferrexpo AG is also actively seeking funds to accelerate construction of a new steel mill, Vorskla Steel (estimated CapEx ~USD 1.5 bln). In addition Ferrexpo AG is also working on the development of its bulk alloy business, it recently acquired a manganese alloy producer in Macedonia and is considering the construction of another producer in Ukraine.
