Glencore: $15bn loans to refinance credit lines

Glencore had refinanced its credit lines with $15.3 billion (R162bn) worth of syndicated loans, the global commodity trader run by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg said on Friday. A group of 69 banks had provided the debt, which comprised an $8.7bn one-year loan and a $6.6bn five-year credit line, the company based in Baar, Switzerland said in a statement. The facilities could be extended by as much as two years. Glencore’s deal is the largest syndicated loan for a European company this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The facility would replace $17.3bn of loans Glencore signed in June last year and would back its commodity trading operations, as well as be used for general corporate purposes. The JSE-listed shares of Glencore, which changed its name from Glencore Xstrata last month, fell 1.06 percent to close at R57.83 on Friday. – Bloomberg