Swedbank Draws $65 Million Syndicated Loan

Swedbank has drawn a syndicated loan of $65 million, according to the banks’ press-service. The loan will be arranged by Landesbank. The deal was signed on April 10, 2008.

After a syndicate was launched, the amount of offers exceeded the planned amount of $40 million by over 60 percent, and the bank decided to borrow an additional $25 million.

According to Swedbank, the loan will be distributed in two tranches: an A-tranche of $34 million at an interest rate of LIBOR+0.85 percent will be granted for a year, and a $31 million B-tranche at a rate of LIBOR+1.7 percent will be granted for two years.

The bank’s Deputy Board Chairman Roman Horokhovskych said that the funds would be used to finance the trade operations of the bank’s clients.

On February 7, UNIAN reported that AKB TAS-Komertsbank’s shareholders had clinched a deal to sell 99.99 percent of the bank’s stock to Swedish-based Swedbank. TAS-Komertsbank’s affiliate TAS-Investbank was also sold.

The deal cost $735 million, of which $50 million supplemented the Ukrainian bank’s statutory capital.

On Dec. 3, 2007, TAS Komertsbank was renamed VAT Swedbank, and TAS-Investbank changed its name to Swedbank-Invest.

UNIAN reference: TAS-Komertsbank (from 1991-1996, Intelekt Innovational Bank, and from 1996-2001, AKB Kyiv Pryvat Bank), was a mother bank of TAS Financial Group’s banking holding.

As of January 1, 2008, the bank’s assets were worth 9.12 billion hryvnias, compared with liabilities of 8.28 billion hryvnias. Bank’s equity totaled 837.57 million hryvnias, and its statutory capital stood at 735.1 million hryvnias.

In 2007, Ukrainian Swedbank saw its net profit increase 27.2 percent, to 16.2 million hryvnias.