BASF seeking US$3B credit line to replace US$2.25B revolving credit facility maturing in April 2014, sources say; company sends lenders request for proposal for five-year facility with two one-year extension options
Andrew Rogers
NEW YORK
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February 22, 2013
(Bloomberg LP)
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BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemicals maker, is seeking a $3 billion credit line to replace a facility maturing next year, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.
The company sent lenders a request for proposals for a five-year revolving credit facility with two one-year extension options, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal is private. Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF will then hire banks as coordinators to market the loan to other lenders, they said. Under a revolver, money repaid can be borrowed again.
The deal will replace a $2.25 billion revolver maturing April 2014, the people said. That loan, signed in 2007, paid an interest margin of 10 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
BASF, rated A1 by Moody’s Investors Service and A+ by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, the fifth-highest investment grade level, paid a margin of 27.5 basis points more than benchmarks on a 3 billion-euro ($4 billion) revolver signed in December 2011.
Siemens AG, which is rated Aa3 by Moody’s and A+ by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, paid a 30 basis-point margin on its 4 billion-euro credit line in April, Bloomberg data show.
Jennifer Moore-Braun, a Ludwigshafen-based spokeswoman for BASF, declined to comment on the financing.
--Editors: Tom Freke, Paul Armstrong
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Morris in London at smorris39@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Faris Khan at fkhan33@bloomberg.net
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