Italian drilling services provider Saipem has subscribed to a new credit facility for up to €554 million ($614.4M) which will be used for the financing or refinancing of the company’s purchases of equipment and services from Norwegian exporters.
According to the company, the credit facility is supported by Garantiinstituttet for Eksportkreditt (GIEK), the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency, and provided mainly by Citibank N. A., London Branch (Citibank) and Eksportkreditt Norge AS (EK), acting as Original Lenders.
The facility will be available for utilization by Saipem over the next 24 months and will comprise several tranches, each with a tenor of 8.5 years, the company said.
The first tranche, in the amount of about €200 million, may be drawn during the coming month of July and will be utilized by Saipem for the partial repayment of the €1,600 million Bridge-to-Bond credit facility signed on December 10, 2015.
Saipem addd that each tranche will have an annual interest rate based on either EURIBOR or CIRR, with an estimated average cost of about 2% per year.
Citibank, N.A., London Branch facilitated the arrangement by serving as Mandated Lead Arranger, and Citibank Europe PLC acted as Facility Agent.