KMG International Group signed a new syndicated credit facility of USD 531.8 million, with the possibility to be increased up to USD 600 million. The loan will be used by KMG International – ROMPETROL RAFINARE S.A. (operator of Petromidia Năvodari and Vega Ploiești refineries), ROMPETROL DOWNSTREAM S.R.L. (retail division – Rompetrol gas stations, fuel depots) and KMG ROMPETROL S.R.L. (management division of the Group in Romania) – to finance their working capital needs and to support the business development strategy, as well as to refinance the existing USD 435 million syndicated loan.
Banca Comercială Română S.A. acted as Coordinator, Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner, Documentation, Facility and Security Agent and Lender alongside the following banks: ING Bank N.V. through ING Bank N.V. Amsterdam – Bucharest Branch, Raiffeisen Bank S.A., and UniCredit Bank S.A, as Mandated Lead Arrangers and lenders, Alpha Bank Romania S.A. as arranger and lender, and Garanti Bank S.A. and OTP Bank Romania S.A. as lenders.
The syndicated facility is guaranteed by KMG International N.V and will be used by the Romanian companies within the group to finance their working capital needs and refinance the existing syndicated loan signed initially in 2015. The documentation also stipulates an accordion feature, which will allow the borrowers to access additional funding of up to USD 600 million, depending on the financing needs required to implement the business development strategy.
Lending financial institutions were assisted by the international law firm Clifford Chance, through its Bucharest office, Clifford Chance Badea SPRL.
“KMG International/Rompetrol has a strategic role in Romania’s energy security, with constant objectives and growth opportunities both on regional and international level. Our role is to support companies that invest in their employees’ development, that create and sustain added-value jobs through modernization, business upgrade and diversification of their product portfolio,” said Manuela Trisnevschi, Head of Energy and Utilities Department, Corporate Coverage, BCR.
“This new syndicated facility proves KMG International ability to secure their financing needs from partner banks and to consolidate their key position on the Romanian and regional energy market. In fact, for us, at BCR, it is a priority to support companies that boost Romania’s potential and to offer them arranging and agency services for complex syndicated loans”, said Grația Popescu, Senior Banker Loan Syndication, BCR.
Fully owned by the national oil and gas company of Kazakhstan – KazMunayGas, KMG International carries out its main operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. With approximately 6,000 employees, the main activities of the Group consist of major commercial operations with crude oil and oil products (trading), refining and petrochemicals, distribution (retail) and marketing, as well as other services in the oil field, such as drilling, well services and EPCM integrated industrial services (engineering, supply, construction, project management).
In Romania, the Group operates the Petromidia Năvodari (the largest and most complex local processing unit) and Vega Ploiesti (the only producer of bitumen and hexane in Romania) refineries, and also the only petrochemical division. In addition, the Group operates a large fuel distribution network in the Black Sea region, both through the Group’s subsidiaries (Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Georgia) and through various partners in the Central and Eastern European region (Turkey, Serbia or Greece).
BCR offers a full range of financial products and services through a network of 20 business centres and 16 mobile offices dedicated to companies and 320 retail units located in most of the country’s cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, where 40% of units are cashless. BCR is Romania’s No.1 bank in the transaction banking market, with BCR customers having the largest national network of ATMs and multifunctional machines – almost 2000 machines, and full banking services through Internet banking, Mobile banking, Phone-banking and E-commerce.
