Agricultural Bank of China contributes to $4.15 billion syndicated loan to help Norilsk Nickel refinance its repayment obligations (Linked to Project ID#95872 and 95876)

On February 20, 2020, PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel signed a $4.15 billion syndicated facility agreement with a group of Chinese and non-Chinese banks. The loan carried a 7-year maturity and an interest rate of LIBOR plus 150 basis points. The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to service the company’s outstanding debts, finance capital expenditure, and for general corporate purposes. Members of the syndicated loan included Agricultural Bank of China (Moscow) Limited, Bank of China Limited Macau branch, Bank of China Limited Hungarian Branch, China Construction Bank Corporation, Seoul Branch, China Construction Bank (Russia) limited, AO Citibank, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, filiale Luxemburg, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, London Branch, Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, ING Bank, a Branch of ING-DiBa AG, Banca IMI S.P.A, London Branch, Všeobecná úverová banka, a.s., CIB Bank ltd, J.P.Morgan Securities plc, Mizuho bank, ltd., AO Mizuho Bank (Moscow), MUFG Bank, Ltd., Natixis, AO Raiffeisenbank, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited, AO UniCredit Bank and UniCredit S.p.A. As of June 30, 2021, the loan’s outstanding amount was $4.065 billion.

Additional details

1. As of March 2021, the key shareholders of PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel were Vladimir Potanin's Olderfrey Holdings Ltd (34.59%) and Oleg Deripaska's Rusal (27.82%). 2. AidData has estimated the all-in interest rate (3.179%) by adding 150 basis points (1.5%) to average 6-month LIBOR in February 2020 (1.679%). 3. The precise monetary values of the contributions of Agricultural Bank of China (Moscow) Limited, Bank of China Limited Macau Branch, Bank of China Limited Hungarian Branch, China Construction Bank Corporation, Seoul Branch, and China Construction Bank (Russia) Limited to the $4.15 billion syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes equal contributions ($159,615,384) across the 26 known members of the loan syndicate. Therefore, the estimated financial contribution from Bank of China is USD 319,230,278 (see project ID#95873), the estimated contribution from China Construction Bank is USD 319,230,278 (see project ID#95872), and the estimated contribution from Agricultural Bank of China is USD 159,615,384 (see project ID#95876). 4. The February 2020 loan agreement was an ‘amendment and restatement agreement’. It upsized a $2.5 billion syndicated loan facility that PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel had signed on December 15, 2017 with a group of 16 lenders. It also added new lenders to the syndicate.

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