Metinvest Recieves USD 1.5 bln Syndicated Loan

Ukraine’s largest metals and mining holding Metinvest, announced this morning that it had received a USD 1.5 bln syndicated loan at Libor+1.7%. The amount of the loan is three times larger than any syndicated facility received by any other Ukrainian institution. The loan will be structured in two parts. Metinvest received USD 1 bln on July 23 and the remaining USD 500 is part of the company’s revolving credit line.  ABN AMBRO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and ING acted as lead organizers for the deal. When Metinvest first announced plans to attract this loan in June, the company’s management said that more than half of the total sum will go into the reconstruction of Azovstal (AZST: BUY) and Enakievo Steel (ENMZ: U/R); around USD 600 mln will be invested into the development of the Krasnodonugol coal mine.  Metinvest is part of Ukraine’s largest private corporation, System Capital Management (SCM), which controls over 150 companies and is owned by Ukraine’s wealthiest man Rinat Akhmetov. SCM has announced plans to invest over USD 6 bln into its enterprises over the next four years as part of its restructuring and modernization plans. SCM’s energy wing, DTEK, plans to issue Eurobonds in 4Q07.