Sri Lanka’s LOLC Group receives USD 247Mn syndicated loan

Feb 24, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Group announced a landmark syndication to borrow 247 million US dollars from three financial institutions including the Asian Development Bank. “A total of 247 million US dollars was received from multiple foreign funding partners and will consist of 3 loans,” a LOLC Group statement said. “153.1 million US dollar loan was granted to Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC, through FMO (Financierings Maatschappij Ontwikkelingslanden), the Dutch Development Bank.” The loan consists of a senior loan of 39.2 million US dollars from FMO and a 113.9 million US dollar syndicated loan from 11 funding partners for Commercial Leasing & Finance PLC (CLC). The 11 partners are: The OPEC fund for International Development (OFID) (USD 20 million); Finnfund- the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (USD 11 million); Proparco – a subsidiary of the AgenceFrançaise de Développement (AFD) (USD 10 million); BIO - the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (USD 7 million); DEG – the German Investment and Development Corporation (USD20 million); OeEB the Austrian Development Bank(USD 10 million); responsAbility Investments AG (USD 12 million); Blue Orchard Finance (USD 10.1 million); Symbiotics (USD 9.0 million) and Dutch Oikocredit (USD 5 million). ACTIAM also participated by providing USD 5 million via FMO’s fund structure. Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer of FMO, said they will act as Mandated Lead Arranger and Facility Agent of this loan facility. “It is encouraging to see so much commitment to job creation and economic growth, both among the other lenders and CLC.” In addition to the syndicated loan transaction, FMO – in partnership with other lenders in the syndicate is committed to supporting CLC with a tailored technical assistance programme to further strengthen operation standards, the statement added. The technical assistance includes capacity building in the area of asset and liability management, environmental, social and governance standards, client protection principles and a management development program focused on leadership and skill training for employees. At the same time, LOLC Finance PLC received a 69 million US dollar loan consisting of 30 million from the ADB and a 39 million US dollars syndicated loan from prominent Middle Eastern banks. "Transcending business, this is also a symbolic moment in multilateral relations, as this is the first syndicated loan from a consortium of Middle Eastern banks to the NBFI sector Sri Lanka," the statement said. The ADB syndication of 69 million to LOLC Finance is structured in two tranches: Tranche A is for a period of 7 years and has been funded by ADB; and Tranche B is for a period of 3 years and has been funded by Emirates NBD Bank, Bank Muscat, First Gulf Bank, National Bank of Oman and Rakbank. ADB has acted as a Lender of Record for both the tranches, with Bank Muscat and First Gulf Bank as the Mandated Lead Arrangers for Tranche B, while Dubai Based Investment Bank, Alpen Capital ME Limited acted as the financial advisor. LOLC Micro Credit Limited, the largest microfinance company in the country, received a 25 million US dollars senior loan from ADB, making it the largest loan received by the company in the present financial year, the statement said.