Hogan Lovells has advised Nordea, Commerzbank, ING Bank, SG Group (Rosbank and SGBT Asset Based Funding), and UniCredit Bank on a USD 450 million unsecured club loan facility to Uralkali.
Nordea was Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner and Documentation Agent. Commerzbank was Mandated Lead Arranger and Facility Agent. ING Bank, SG Group, and UniCredit Bank were Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners
Uralkali is one of the world’s largest potash producers and exporters. Uralkali’s assets consist of 5 mines and 7 ore-treatment mills situated in the towns of Berezniki and Solikamsk, in the Perm Region of Russia. Uralkali employs around 11,300 people in the main production unit, and its shares and GDRs are traded on the Moscow Exchange and London Stock Exchange, respectively.
The loan facility is a debut unsecured facility for Uralkali. It has a five-year term and will be used to refinance Uralkali's existing financial indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.
Moscow-based Partner Alexander Rymko, who led the Hogan Lovells team along with London-based Partner Andrew Taylor, feels that the deal is significant, as it "demonstrates the ability of international financial institutions to make funds available to Russian top-tier borrowers in the current difficult market conditions." Rymko and Taylor were assisted by Moscow-based Senior Associate Alexander Gasparyan and London-based Associate Emma Milne. The team also included Partners Aleksandar Dukic, Philip Harle, and Louise Lamb, Of Counsel Catherine Robert, and Associate Tom Eyre-Brook.