ICICI Bank signs $1.5bn loan agreement

ICICI Bank, India's second largest lender, has signed a multi-tranche, dual currency $1.5 billion syndication loan agreement in Singapore.

"The syndication is a benchmark deal as the facility marks India's largest offshore syndicated loan financing by a financial institution," Chanda Kochhar, deputy managing director, ICICI Bank  said in a statement today.

The facility, in US dollars or Japanese yen, is split into three tranches - a $500 million, 364-day tranche (tranche A), a $500 million, three-year tranche (tranche B) and a $500 million, five-year tranche (tranche C).

Tranche C would be repayable in two equal instalments at the end of 4.5 years and five years, and hence shall have an average maturity of 4.75 years, the statement added.

A total of 28 banks participated in the syndication facility across the globe.
"We are delighted with the widespread interest the deal has generated from leading banks across the globe. It is heartening to see a number of new players participating in the deal," Kochhar said.

BNP Paribas, Bayerische Landesbank, Calyon, Commerzbank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, Netixis, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation were among the 10 mandated lead arrangers for the syndication.