MLAs picked for QVC refinancing

26 September 2003
A group of 11 international and regional banks has been appointed as mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) on the $460 million refinancing package for Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC). The participants have, on a pro-rata basis, taken underwriting commitments of $41.8 million each. Given that they were asked to bid for $50 million tickets, the likelihood is that there will be only a small syndication primarily targeting regional banks (MEED 15:8:03).

The MLAs are Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Natexis Banques Populaires, Barclays Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation, ING Bank, Gulf International Bank, Qatar National Bank (QNB), Doha Bank and Mashreqbank.

The 10-year facility has a step-up pricing structure starting at 100 basis points (bp) over Libor for the first three years, rising to 115 bp for the next four years and up to 130 bp for the last three.

The new finance will replace the original debt package, which is currently paying a margin of 225 bp over Libor (MEED 25:7:03).

BNP Paribas is acting as QVC's financial adviser. The original $475 million, 12-year debt package was lead arranged by Banque Paribas, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) and Credit Suisse First Boston. Joining at the sub-underwriting level were Arab Banking Corporation, ANZ Investment Bank, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Banque Nationale de Paris, Societe Generale, Industrial Bank of Japan and QNB (MEED 8:1:99).

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