Standard Bank inks $1bn loan #CAPNews

Standard Bank head office in downtown Johannesburg.

Johannesburg - Standard Bank of South Africa says it has signed a $1 billion, 36-month, term loan facility in London.

In a statement issued on Friday, the big four bank says the offer was well oversubscribed allowing for a final take up of $1 billion. The facility is priced at 120 basis points over Libor.

The geographic split of lenders includes banks from Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, it says.

There are 18 banks participating in the transaction.

Standard Bank has a history of borrowing in the international loan market going back to 1995. To date, the group has secured 55 syndicated loans amounting to $15 billion.

Dr Arno Daehnke, Group FD designate says the loan is among the largest syndicated loans the group has raised.

“ We are delighted with the amount raised as well as the pricing achieved.”

The funding will be used for general corporate purposes, including trade-related finance as well as infrastructure-, power- and mining-related lending transactions in sub-Saharan Africa, it says.

#CAPNews