ICTSI granted US$120m standby credit facility

International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) of the Philippines has been granted a US$120 million standby credit facility by a consortium of 19 prominent banks led by ABN AMRO Bank that includes HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citigroup and the Bank of China. This marks the first time that ICTSI has borrowed funds from the international syndicated loan market to facilitate the ongoing expansion of the group's international container terminal network. ICTSI Capital was established as the borrower under the facility, which was guaranteed by ICTSI, a group statement said. "We went to the market seeking a US$80 million standby credit facility, to be used for future acquisitions in the marine container terminal sector, and this was heavily over subscribed, hence we upsized the deal in response to the very strong demand," said Martin O'Neil, ICTSI's newly appointed chief financial officer and senior vice president at the signing ceremony. The company's chairman and president, Enrique Razon, who signed the agreement, noted that the group has recently acquired an existing container terminal business and intends to sign a new container terminal concession soon, adding that there are "other interesting projects in the pipeline". ICTSI develops, manages and operates container terminals on four continents.