Singapore's PSA International receives US$1.1 billion syndicated loan from 5 banks
Singapore's PSA International has been granted a US$1.1 billion loan from a syndicate of five banks to help refinance maturing debt and for general corporate purposes.
The three-year loan that has been made available for two wholly-owned PSA units is being offered by a syndicate comprising the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank Ltd, Bloomberg reported.
It said the banks have declined to reveal the level of interest payable on the loan.
The report said PSA approached the banks for help to refinance some of the $3.42 billion in loans it agreed to in May 2006 when it acquired 20 per cent of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings, according to three people involved in the talks last month.
"Banks asked PSA to pay at least 100 basis points more than the London inter-bank offered rate," the report cited the sources as saying.
Bloomberg said that through Asia Lion International Ltd unit, one of the two borrowers named in the statement, PSA in 2006 paid 20 basis points over benchmark rates for the Hutchison loans due in May, and 30 basis points for loans due in May 2013.
PSA declined comment. Like other leading global terminal operators, including Hutchison Port Holdings, PSA has seen cargo volumes decline as the economic slowdown in the US and Europe weakens consumer demand for goods from Asia. The Singapore-based port operator said recently that its cargo volumes rose by 7.3 per cent in 2008, representing the smallest annual increase since 2001.
The three-year loan that has been made available for two wholly-owned PSA units is being offered by a syndicate comprising the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank Ltd, Bloomberg reported.
It said the banks have declined to reveal the level of interest payable on the loan.
The report said PSA approached the banks for help to refinance some of the $3.42 billion in loans it agreed to in May 2006 when it acquired 20 per cent of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings, according to three people involved in the talks last month.
"Banks asked PSA to pay at least 100 basis points more than the London inter-bank offered rate," the report cited the sources as saying.
Bloomberg said that through Asia Lion International Ltd unit, one of the two borrowers named in the statement, PSA in 2006 paid 20 basis points over benchmark rates for the Hutchison loans due in May, and 30 basis points for loans due in May 2013.
PSA declined comment. Like other leading global terminal operators, including Hutchison Port Holdings, PSA has seen cargo volumes decline as the economic slowdown in the US and Europe weakens consumer demand for goods from Asia. The Singapore-based port operator said recently that its cargo volumes rose by 7.3 per cent in 2008, representing the smallest annual increase since 2001.