Bank mobilises highest level of commercial bank financing since 2008
In 2015, a year when private sector lending to emerging economies remained cautious, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was particularly successful in attracting additional finance for its projects from commercial banks and other lenders.
The Bank mobilised more than €2.3 billion via syndicated loans last year, nearly double the EBRD’s Annual Mobilised Investment of €1.2 billion in 2014 and the highest level for syndicated loans since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.
The syndicated lending was broad-based, comprising over 40 projects covering seven sectors in a total of 15 countries. This was in addition to the EBRD’s own investments in 2015 which hit a new record of €9.4 billion.
“It was especially important that we were able to secure this robust level of commercial bank finance for our projects as access to funding generally remained difficult last year,” said Lorenz Jorgensen, the EBRD’s Director for Loan Syndications.
Notable syndications last year included financing for the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia, which raised a €755 million B loan (loan (in addition to US$ 400 million, or about €370 million, EBRD A loan) for a total package of €4.1 billion. “This was the culmination of many years of work involving contributions from numerous other financial institutions and commercial banks,” Mr Jorgensen said.
The EBRD also continued successfully raising long-term funds for infrastructure in Turkey, with financing for the Etlik Hospital public-private partnership near Ankara. Project finance was raised for natural resource ventures in Azerbaijan, with funding for the Shah Deniz energy field, and in Kazakhstan for the Voskhod chromium complex.
The Bank syndicated its first transactions in the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, raising financing for projects in Egypt and Jordan.