Jurong Aromatics to borrow US$1.56 bln to fund construction of petrochemicals project

02-Dec-10

Singapore's Jurong Aromatics Corp. is to borrow US$1.56 bln in loans to help fund construction of a US$2.4 bln petrochemicals plant on Jurong Island, expected to start operations in 2014. The project is owned by South Korea's SK Group, China's polyester-maker Jiangsu Sanfangxiang Group Co. and Swiss commodities supplier Glencore International AG, along with other investors. As per Bloomberg, the facilities, arranged by ING Groep NV and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, include US$1.22 bln of loans that were syndicated to a group of nine additional lenders. The US$1.22 bln syndicated financing included a US$618 mln covered loan with a maturity of up to 15.5 years that pays 215 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate. Syndicated facilities also included a loan of US$278 mln of up to 15.5 years from Export-Import Bank of Korea which pays a spread of 215 basis points. A US$156 mln 10-year loan pays 325 basis points, a US$50 mln loan maturing in up to 15.5 years pays 425 basis points, while a US$115 mln 5 year working capital facility pays 270 basis points. Kexim also provided a separate loan of $340 million to bring the total credit facilities to US$1.56 bln. All the loans are expected to be signed next month.