SCF Group, U.S. banks ink a $140m loan agreement
Citi, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) have signed a USD 140 million, 7 year loan Agreement to finance the construction of two VLCC-tankers. The vessels are currently under construction with delivery scheduled in 2013. They will operate on long-term charter agreements with PetroChina International (a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation CNPC), one of the world’s leading oil & gas corporations, the shipping company press release said.
Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot President & CEO, said: "We are very pleased to welcome Citi and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to join the core group of Sovcomflot’s lenders. This is the first time Sovcomflot has established a long-term relationship with two such prominent global financial institutions. I hope that this transaction demonstrates that SCF Group has continued access to debt capital to finance its investment needs throughout the shipping cycle. We look forward to further developing our partnership with Citi and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. SCF Group has a long history in the international financial markets and has been raising funds from international banks since the late 1980’s. We are grateful to our financial partners for their ongoing support for the growth of our business. ”
Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citigroup, said: “Citi has been enabling progress for its clients for nearly 200 years, and for the last 20 years in Russia. Since financing of the first supertanker in 1948, Citi has placed a high priority on supporting major transportation projects. Today Sovcomflot is one of the world's leading shipping companies, and we are pleased to be a partner in this benchmark deal. Cooperation between such major international corporations creates additional opportunities for the development of this sector and will help strengthen Sovñomflot’s business ties with world financial institutions.”
Roman Zilber, head of Corporate Banking for Russia at Bank of America Merrill Lynch added: “Russia is a strategic focus for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and we have seen encouraging signs of our firm’s strength and capabilities through recent deals such as this. Such successes are a result of strong client relationships coupled with specialised expertise. We look forward to further opportunities to support SCF and our other Russian clients, providing the very best global infrastructure with the benefit of local, in-country expertise.”
OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) - one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, specialising in crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas transportation and servicing offshore upstream oil & gas projects. The fleet includes 157 vessels with a total deadweight of 12 million tonnes. The company is registered in St. Petersburg with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, London, Limassol, Madrid and Singapore.
The Group offers a wide range of services in the market segments most demanded by major Russian and international oil and gas companies. With its own technical development team, Sovcomflot has the ability to meet the most demanding customer requirements, providing effective transportation for oil & gas companies. www.scf-group.ru
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
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Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 57 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,700 retail banking offices and approximately 17,250 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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