Kaltim Prima raises $385m syndicated loans

Kaltim Prima raises $385m syndicated loans

PT Kaltim Prima Coal has raised US$385 million through a two- and-a-half year syndicated loan to refinance existing debt, sources familiar with the deal said on Monday.

The coal miner is paying a price of 400 basis points over the 3-month London Interbank Offered Rate for the funds, plus undisclosed fees.

Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. was the arranger of the deal.

The books on the deal closed Friday and CSFB is now engaged in the allocation of the oversubscribed deal, one source said.

The proceeds of the loan will be used to refinance some acquisition-related debt which, after amortization, amounts to around $385 million. Kaltim Prima needs to make a repayment on that Oct. 13, a company official has said.

Kaltim Prima had hoped to refinance the debt through an international bond issue. However, market conditions turned sour toward much emerging market debt earlier in the year, making it too expensive.

Moody's has assigned a Ba2 foreign currency secured debt rating to the loan.

Publicly-listed Bumi Resources is the parent company of Jakarta-headquartered Kaltim Prima. -- Dow Jones