Baku, Azerbaijan, July 3
Trend:
Kazakhstan’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna JSC repaid a syndicated loan of $1.5 billion ahead of schedule, attracted in 2015 to finance the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in KMG Kashagan BV company, the fund said in a message July 3.
The repayment was made at the expense of Samruk-Kazyna’s own funds in the amount of $900 million and the attraction of a new loan of $600 million from the syndicate of international and Kazakh banks, according to the message.
This was achieved by the work aimed at increasing the profitability of the group of companies of the Fund, as well as reducing the cost of borrowed resources and external debt.
As a result, the Fund retained its presence on the international debt capital market and simultaneously reduced external debt by $900 million. The Fund significantly reduced the cost of the loan, which is a serious success in the formation of a benchmark on competitive terms.
This transaction also allows to synchronize the timeline of the Fund's cash flows by extending the maturity dates from 2020 until the end of 2022, due to the appropriate postponement of the option agreement for the repurchase of shares of KMG Kashagan BV by JSC NC “KazMunayGaz”.
In addition, KazMunayGaz's external debt was reduced by $1.6 billion due to the repayment of its international bonds.