One of the loans, worth $9 billion, will finance the bid for YUKOS’ 9.44 percent stake in Rosneft at an auction set for March 27.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Rosneft Becomes Russia’s Largest Borrower
Rosneft announced Tuesday it would borrow a record $22 billon from a consortium of foreign banks to fund purchases of assets. The money is raised in two loans for 12 and 18 months, respectively. The oil firm, however, is most likely to pay the debt back in time after buying assets in the bankrupt oil giant YUKOS and recovering its loans.
Rosneft’s board approved the decision to take out the two loans on March 15, the oil company said Tuesday. The money will come from ABN Amro, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. The interest rates for both loans will range from 0.25 and 0.5 above London Interbank Offered Rate. The $13 billion loan matures in 12 months and the $9 billion one in 18 months.
The two loans will help Rosneft buy assets in Russia and abroad, the company said in a statement. One of them, worth $9 billion, will finance the bid for YUKOS’ 9.44 percent stake in Rosneft at an auction on March 27. Analysts say that apart from that asset Rosneft may be interested in some production units of YUKOS such as Samaraneftegaz.
YUKOS owes Rosneft $10 billion, the money that Rosneft will claim after the auctions, thus raising money to pay back some of the loans it is now taking out.
Industry experts believe that Rosneft is buying out its 9.44 percent with plans to resell it or use in an exchange of assets in a merger deal. Meanwhile, a Kommersant source says that Rosneft is going to float the stake within three or four months after the purchase.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 21, 2007
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