SCF Group recognized at 2016 Marine Money awards for USD 750-million Eurobond issue
Marine Money, an international maritime finance publication, has awarded SCF Group in its annual industry awards for 2016: SCF’s USD 750 million 7-year bond offering has been named ‘Institutional Debt Deal of the Year 2016’, SCF says in a press release.
SCF Group is honoured to be the recipient of Marine Money awards for the seventh year in a row.
In June 2016, SCF Group successfully completed a new USD 750 million 7-year Eurobond offering. The proceeds from the issue were used to fund a simultaneous tender offer for the Group’s outstanding Eurobonds due in 2017, and to refinance other indebtedness.
The new bond offering generated strong demand from investors and enabled very competitive pricing, with a coupon of 5.375 per cent which matched the coupon on the Group’s debut 2010 Eurobond issue, whereas the tender offer achieved one of the highest ever tender participation rates from Russia of 83 per cent.
The new issue and the tender offer were both arranged by Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB, VTB Capital, and ING.
The three main rating agencies (Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P’s) have seen the successful bond offering as a credit positive event for SCF Group.
“The transaction was a success on many levels. It marked SCF’s successful return to the international market after a six-year absence and established a liquid benchmark in the Eurobond market,” noted Marine Money.
Nikolay Kolesnikov, Executive Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer of Sovcomflot, commented:
“Throughout the 2016, the Group was successful in raising USD 1.26 billion in debt capital. This has enabled the Group’s debt repayment profile to be significantly improved, and has covered our capital expenditure requirements.”
Last year, SCF Group received two industry awards from Marine Money. Nikolay Kolesnikov was recognized as the ‘Dealmaker of the Year 2015’, while a 14-year USD 340 million long-term credit facility agreement, signed between Sovcomflot and Sberbank CIB in December 2015, was named ‘The Project Financing Deal of the Year 2015 – West’.
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is one of the world's leading shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as servicing offshore upstream oil and gas installations and equipment. The Group’s fleet comprises 147 vessels with a total deadweight of over 13.1 million tonnes. The company is registered in St. Petersburg with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.
The Group offers a wide range of vessels in the market segments most demanded by major Russian oil and gas companies. With its own technical development and unique approach to advanced technologies, Sovcomflot can meet the most demanding customer requirements, providing effective transportation for oil & gas companies.
