PSB raises $250 mm syndicated loan

PSB has raised a $250 million syndicated loan. On the back of substantial oversubscription at senior level, PSB management decided to close the transaction as a club deal involving the EBRD and 11 international banks.

The EBRD is the lender of record for the new syndicated loan and used its own funds to finance the $100 million A portion, which will have a three-year maturity. The maturity of the $150 million B loan syndicated to commercial banks will be one year. The B loan interest rate is LIBOR+ 2.75% per annum. The B Lenders will include as B Loan Mandated Lead Arrangers Commerzbank AG, CREDIT SUISSE AG, HSBC BANK PLC, ING BANK N.V., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V., Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG, Standard Chartered Bank, Unicredit Bank Austria AG , VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG, WestLB AG, London Branch.

Artem Konstandian, PSB First Vice President comments on the transaction: «This loan represents the first syndication for a private Russian bank in 2010. The transaction was highly successful, receiving a very strong support from the market. It may signal a recovery in the syndicated loan market, which shrank significantly amid the crisis, and enable quality Russian banks to raise mid-term financing in international markets.»

Proceeds will be used to finance PSB loan portfolio, including trade finance transactions.

PSB and the EBRD have been successfully cooperating for many years in various areas, including trade financing, SME Development Program and Energy Efficiency Program. Last February, the EBRD acquired an 11.75 percent stake in PSB.

About Promsvyazbank

OJSC Promsvyazbank, founded in 1995, is one of the leading privately-owned Russian banks, with total assets of RUB 471.2 bn, and total capital of RUB 51.8 bn under IFRS as of 1 January 2010. Holding company Promsvyaz Capital B. V. owns 72.93% of the Bank, Commerzbank Auslandsbanken Holding AG, a subsidiary of the second-largest German bank Commerzbank AG, has a 15.32% stake, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns the remaining 11.75%. PSB has the following international credit ratings: “Ba2” from Moody’s Investors Service and“B+” from Fitch Ratings. As at 1 April 2010, PSB had a network of about 240 points of sale in Russia, including 48 branches, a foreign branch in Cyprus, and representative offices in China, India and Ukraine. Upon completion of accession to OJSC Promsvyazbank of OJSC Volgoprombank and OJSC Nizhny Novgorod in May 2010, the Promsvyazbank Banking Group comprise OJSC Promsvyazbank itself as the parent credit institution and OJSC Yarsotsbank. http://eng.psbank.ru/