Akbank gets 1 billion euro syndicated loan
Posted by meb at August 16th, 2008
Akbank has successfully obtained a 1 billion euro syndicated loan from a group of 53 banks from 20 countries. The signing ceremony for the syndicated loan, which falls due in one year and was extended at the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) plus 0.75 percent, was held yesterday in İstanbul.
Akbank General Manager Zafer Kurtul, together with Managing Director Bülent Adanır and representatives from the 53 lending banks, attended the ceremony.
Noting the significance of the syndicated loan having been extended amid a troubled financial atmosphere marked by major liquidity problems, Kurtul said the process represented “the highest syndicated loan amount” granted to a developing country since the beginning of 2008.
Kurtul said they had received a total amount of $2 billion in external loans together with a $393.5 million secured loan they obtained last week. This money will be used to finance exporters and companies operating in the financial sector.
Following the ceremony, Kurtul recalled the conditions they had faced in their syndicated loan last year, which was priced at LIBOR plus 0.47. A deterioration in global economic conditions since then is the biggest reason behind the relatively more disadvantageous situation this year, he explained.
Kurtul asserted a more suitable cost would be designed in extending loans out of another $1 billion syndicated loan, which has to be cleared by December of this year. At this point, he recalled that the amount of corporate loans extended by Akbank had reached $40 billion in the first six months of this year, an increase of 54 percent over the first half of 2007. Stating that they had endeavored for three months to secure the loan, Akbank Vice President for international banking Hülya Kefeli said they had asked for 1 billion euros but that the funds offered by the participating banks went far beyond this amount, which indicated the considerable trust in Akbank’s strength. The loan was extended in a “club deal” format, she noted adding that the highest amount a bank offered was 30 million euros.
source: Today’s Zaman
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