BPCL raises $107 m via syndicated loan

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has raised $107.50 million external commercial borrowing through a 5-year syndicated loan transaction.

This was BPCL's first capital raising in the syndicated loan market. The deal was jointly arranged by BA Asia, BNP Paribas, DBS and ICICI, according to a Bank of America release.

"It (BPCL) has the distinction of being one of the most successful, finely priced loan facilities to be syndicated out of India in recent times. BPCL's strong credentials ensured that the transaction received a strong response from banks across Asia, Europe and Middle East," the release added.

BPCL received total commitments of more than $ 125 million from 10 banks and finally decided to retain only 7.5 per cent of the deal value as oversubscription.

Sarthak Behuria, chairman and managing director, BPCL said, "The transaction is path breaking for us not only because of the heartening response from the international banking community at an extremely competitive pricing but also because it will part finance our company's critical refinery modernisation programme to become compliant with Euro II and III norms."

Vishwavir Ahuja, CEO, Bank of America said, "The deal was a strong example of how the arranger group, though composed of a diverse set of organisations, could work seamlessly to provide a swift value added solution to the company."