Mercuria has grown its European revolving credit facilities (RCFs) to US$3.5bn, which the commodity trading giant says will aid its growth plans and expansion in the LNG and metals markets.
The facilities comprise one-year and three-year multicurrency RCFs as well as a one-year off-balance sheet instruments facility, with extension options. They were launched at US$2.75bn in April but closed considerably higher after oversubscription.
As with last year’s facilities, which formed part of a US$3.2bn package of European RCFs, bookrunning mandated lead arrangers are Crédit Agricole, FAB, ING, Mizuho, Natixis, Rabobank, SMBC, Société Générale, UBS and UniCredit, as well as the London branches of Bank of China, Emirates NBD and ICBC.
A total of 31 lenders joined the syndicate, up from 29 last year.
Guillaume Vermersch, Mercuria’s chief financial officer, says the refinancing reflects “the strong support of our banking partners, who recognise the resilience and performance of the business model”.
“Continued access to capital remains essential to advancing our growth plans,” he says, citing the trader’s expansion of its LNG and metals trading desks over the past year.
The announcement follows the upscaling of Mercuria’s Asia Pacific RCF in December, which saw the company secure a term loan and RCFs worth US$1.7bn from a group of commercial lenders and state-owned Chinese banks.
In 2023, Mercuria’s European RCF was accompanied by its first-ever export credit agency-backed deal, a €500mn facility guaranteed by Italy’s Sace to supply the country with natural gas and LNG.
