UPDATE: Glencore Launches $7 Billion Loan-Refinance

Glencore International AG said Thursday it has launched the syndication of revolving credit facilities at an initial amount of $7 billion as part of its regular refinancing arrangements.

The syndication was launched March 30 with signing of the facilities due May 2010.

The refinancing concerns part or all of the $7.47 billion of loans Glencore agreed in May 2009, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires last week.

The loan facilities agreed last year comprise a $6.65 billion forward-start revolving credit facility that is due to mature in 2012 and an $815 million revolving credit facility.

Pricing on the forward-start loan is around 225 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate and is linked to a ratings grid, a person familiar with the matter previously told Dow Jones Newswires.

The $815 million one-year loan has an option to extend for a further year and is priced at 200 basis points over Libor.

BNP Paribas SA, ING Bank NV, The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Societe Generale SA, Corporate & Investment Banking and Standard Chartered Bank have been mandated by Glencore to arrange the refinancing of its revolving credit Facilities.

Barclays PLC, Calyon and Lloyds TSB were bookrunners and mandated lead-arrangers, or MLAs, on the 2009 loan financing. A total of 35 banks committed to the facility in syndication last year in addition to the MLAs.

Concerns over Glencore's health arose last year, following a dramatic increase in the cost of insuring its debt against default. Analysts said at the time that the increased cost was largely technical and reflected broader turbulent market conditions rather than fundamental problems in the company.

-By Andrea Hotter, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

(Carol Dean contributed to this article.)