International Bank of Azerbaijan raises $130 mln syndicated loan
BAKU. Nov 12 (Interfax) - International Bank of Azerbaijan, the biggest bank in Azerbaijan, has raised a syndicated loan worth $130 million, the bank said in a press release.
According to the press release, the following banks organized the loan: Citibank, N.A., Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, Standard Chartered Bank and Standard Bank Plc.
The syndicate included 18 banks: Demir-Halk Bank (Nederland), Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A., Landesbank Berlin AG, FBN Bank (UK), Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, UniCredit Bank Austria AG and several others.
The press release said that the loan initially came to $100 million but during negotiations, syndicate members said that they were ready to provide $180 million in total. Following negotiations, IBA expressed its readiness to raise $130 million in two tranches - $51 million and 56 million euro (79 million). The loan's interest rate is LIBOR/EURIBOR+2,75%. The funds will be provided over a year and will be used for financing trade operations.
"This is the second major transaction this year for IBA on international financial markets. The bank plans to raise more syndicated loans in the future," the press release said.
International Bank of Azerbaijan was set up in 1992 and is the largest bank in the country. The government holds 50.2% of the bank's shares, private shareholders the other 49.8%. The shareholders are fourteen legal entities and 1,556 private individuals in all.
IBA ended 2009 in 30th place by assets among banks in the Commonwealth of Independent States and 1st among Azerbaijani banks on the Interfax-1000: CIS Banks ranking of bank size.