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$18 million EBRD loan to promote leasing in Siberia, Russian Far East and Sakhalin
DeltaLeasing deal includes first syndicated loan for a Russian regional leasing company
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing $18 million
to DeltaLeasing in a transaction which includes the first syndication of a
loan to a regional leasing company in Russia.
Four international banks have bought $12 million of the loan although the EBRD
will remain the lender of record for the full amount.
The four banks participating under an EBRD A/B loan structure are
Anglo-Romanian Bank Limited (United Kingdom), ING Bank N.V. (Dublin branch),
Investkredit Bank AG (Austria) and HSH Nordbank AG (Germany). Each has taken
$3 million. The maturity of the EBRD’s $6 million A loan is five years; that
of the commercial lenders’ B loan two years – with an option to extend it for
an additional two years.
Russia has a limited market for medium-term funding which is often not
accessible for small and middle-sized firms. These remain vastly under-served
in the Russian Far East and, particularly so on Sakhalin Island. A portion of
the facility is earmarked for use on Sakhalin where DeltaLeasing has been
operating since 2000, financing a broad spectrum of projects, many of which
are linked to infrastructure and construction activities resulting from the
development of the energy-rich Sakhalin Shelf.
This operation will boost the capability of a well-managed, established
leasing company to provide long-term lease finance to private enterprises in
the region and will complement the Bank’s existing Russia Small Business Fund
(RSBF) operations and separate on-lending programmes for banks helping small
businesses.
DeltaLeasing specialises in providing leasing to small and medium-sized
enterprises to help them invest in new and used equipment and vehicles. The
company maintains a network of offices throughout the Russian Far East and
Siberia and is currently expanding operations into the Urals. This facility
will thus improve the access of small businesses to medium-term funding across
a large swathe of Russia’s regions.
The EBRD is a valuable strategic partner and this transaction highlights the
growing attractiveness of the Russian regional leasing market, said Gregory
Sundstrom, Chairman of DeltaLeasing. We look forward to continued cooperation
with the Bank and to capitalizing on future commercial opportunities generated
by this initial syndication, Mr. Sundstrom added.
DeltaLeasing (www.deltaleasing.ru) is
a Russian leasing company established in 1999 by The US-Russia Investment Fund
(TUSRIF), which is managed by Delta Private Equity Partners (http://www.deltacap.ru/eng/).
This syndicated facility represents the EBRD’s second transaction with
DeltaLeasing, following the extension of a $5 million loan in 2004.
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