CMS has advised ING Bank N.V., London Branch and other international banks as mandated lead arrangers of a new USD 420 million five year unsecured syndicated finance facility to Russian Railways. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer reportedly advised Russian Railways on the deal.
According to CMS, Russian Railways is "one of the largest transportation companies in the world and is one of the largest corporates in Russia which provides a full range of services from infrastructure maintenance, engineering and logistics to freight and passenger transportation." At the end of February, the company successfully completed two offerings of USD and RUB Eurobonds as part of its 2017 debt strategy. The new bank loan (the first syndicated finance facility for Russian Railways since 2008) with an embedded accordion option will assist the company to further diversify its borrowing sources and will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing of its existing debt.
CMS's core team members included Prague-based Banking and Finance Partner Mark Segall and Moscow-based Counsel Elena Tchoubykina and Associate Alexandra Kobzeva.
Freshfields did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.