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Fri 26 Oct 2012, 13:38 GMT

Vopak completes $1 billion notes programme


Terminal operator says the proceeds will be used to repay outstanding debt and for other general corporate purposes.

Terminal operator Royal Vopak has announced that it has issued a new notes programme in the US private placement (USPP) market for a total amount of approximately USD1 billion in various currencies. The new issue consists of a senior tranche of approximately USD 900 million and a subordinated tranche of around USD 100 million.

According to Vopak, 37 institutional investors are participating in the new potes programme, of which 10 are new investors. The senior notes programme consists of various tranches with maturities ranging from 10.5 to 14.5 years and an average annual interest rate of 3.94%. The subordinated notes programme has a maturity of 7 years and an average annual interest rate of 4.99%. The majority of the notes is denominated in USD.

Vopak said the proceeds of the USPP will be made available towards the end of this year and will be used to repay outstanding debt and for other general corporate purposes.

Vopak added that the programme will further align the maturity profile of the outstanding debt with its long-term growth strategy and provide maximum flexibility under the current EUR 1.2 billion revolving credit facility. At the beginning of this year, the maturity of the credit facility was successfully extended by one additional year to up to 2017.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., JP Morgan Securities LLC. and RBS Securities Inc. acted as the joint agents on the transaction.

Jack de Kreij, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer of Vopak said: "For our fourth USPP programme since 2001, we again not only experienced a strong interest, but were also able to attract a new group of long-term investors. This reconfirms Vopak’s ongoing access to relevant capital markets. In combination with our current US and Asian PP programmes, our revolving credit facility and our portfolio of specific project financings this new notes programme further enables the execution of our growth ambitions as reflected in our global terminal network expansion strategy, supported by a robust customer demand and a strong financial performance over the last years."

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