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Weekly Lists
March 15, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 28
bne:Banker
Garanti, Eximbank, Ziraat seek syndicated loan renewals
Turkish private lender Garanti Bankasi along with state-controlled Turk Eximbank and Ziraat Bank have launched bookbuildings to refinance one-year syndicated loans, two unnamed loan bankers told Global Capital on March 12.
The pricings would be in line with Akbank’s recent refinancing, the publication added.
Following the currency crisis in Turkey that reached its worst point last August, the country’s external debt refinancing journey was reinitiated by Akbank’s syndicated loan renewal at more than double cost in Sep- tember. Other local lenders followed the path opened up by Akbank.
In October, the government returned to the market with a eurobond issue held at what was seen as an incredibly high cost of 7.5%.
The international rating agency S&P Global upgraded the long- term rating of International Investment Bank (IIB) to A- with
a stable outlook on March 7.
It was the fifth positive rating action for IIB since the beginning of 2018 from leading international rating agencies.
S&P underlines that the upgrade is based on a “moderate corpo- rate risk profile and a very strong financial profile in accordance with renewed criteria of the agency” adopted within the framework of a revised multi-lateral development bank rating methodology.
IIB was founded in 1970 to foster economic cooperation between the COMECOM countries. Today it is a multinational development bank that includes Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Vietnam amongst its members.
Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank does not rule out bidding for state-owned stake in Serbija’s Komercijalna Banka, Reuters reported on March 13.
Serbia plans to call a tender for the privatisation of the state-owned stake by the end of May. In early February, the government picked
a consortium led by French company Lazard to be the financial adviser for the privatisation. The local unit of KPMG and the Serbian legal firm Prica and Partners are also participating.
Serbia and its banking market have developed well in recent years and still show potential, Reuters quoted Raiffeisen Bank’s CEO Johann Strobl as saying when asked whether the bank might be interested in the tender.
S&P Global upgrades IIB's long-term rating to A- with a stable outlook
Raiffeisen Bank eyes Serbia’s Komercijalna Banka