Sovcomflot completes $1.26 billion financing

SCF Group, one of the world’s leading shipping companies, said that it has completed a series of financing transactions in the total amount of US$1.26 billion.

The deals include $750 million of unsecured public debt and $512 million of bank loans raised for purposes of funding the fleet renewal and expansion programme and for the refinancing of maturing debt, the company said in a statement.

The latest in this series were new long-term credit facilities for a total amount of $252 million signed in August 2016, with a number of international banks including Citibank, DVB Bank, ING Bank, Nordea Bank and Unicredit Bank.

The funds raised are being used to finance the acquisition of nine ice-class tankers and two multifunctional icebreaking supply vessels as well as for refinancing of the group’s existing bank debt.

Nikolay Kolesnikov, executive vice president, chief financial officer, said, “With this latest round of financing we have fully covered Sovcomflot’s capex funding requirements, including for the recently completed acquisition of nine ice-class tankers and two ice-breaking platform supply vessels, and addressed the group’s refinancing needs.”

Earlier in June 2016, SCF Group made a $750 million seven-year Eurobond offering and used the proceedings to fund a simultaneous tender offer for the group’s outstanding Eurobonds due in 2017 and to refinance other indebtedness.

Also, in June 2016, SCF Group signed a $260 million thirteen-year loan agreement with VTB Bank for the financing of construction of the first Arctic LNG carrier for the Yamal LNG project. The vessel is due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2017.