Fangyuan Group receives USD385 million structured pre-payment financing joint lead arranged by Deutsche Bank and ING Bank

Deutsche Bank and ING Bank today announced that they have arranged a USD385 million structured copper pre-delivery term loan facility for Fangyuan Group with 54% over-subscription.

Headquartered in Dongying city, China, Fangyuan Group was established in 1998 and is the fourth largest copper producer in China.

The innovative structured facility has enabled two core operating entities of Fangyuan Group to raise offshore funding under the external debt quota approved by State Administration of Foreign Exchange pursuant to the framework of the Centralized Operation and Management of Foreign Exchange Funds of Multinational Companies.

Deutsche Bank and ING Bank acted as Joint Mandated Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners and secured the participation of nine other banks for the 12-month term loan, which will provide Fangyuan Group with additional working capital.

Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch acted as the facility agent. DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited acted as the security agent and Deutsche Bank (China) Co., Ltd. as the account bank.

Mr. Liu Xiaohui, CEO at Fangyuan Group, said: “Deutsche Bank and ING Bank’s outstanding structuring and syndication capabilities combined with their proven track record gave us the confidence that they would help us raise funding in an innovative way. This successful collaboration between the banks and Fangyuan Group takes into consideration our actual needs in terms of supply, production and consumption and, therefore, is very much aligned with the requirements of our asset conversion cycle. As such, it is a perfect illustration of the benefits attributed to structured finance facilities for the development of productive enterprises.”

Frank Wu, Head of Structured Commodity Trade Finance – Asia Pacific, Global Transaction Banking at Deutsche Bank, said: “Working with Fangyuan Group again after last year’s successful USD145 million syndication speaks to the strong collaboration and partnership between both companies. We are very proud to have played a leading role in the structuring of the largest copper facility of this kind ever arranged in the China market.”

Momchil Ivanov, Head of Structured Metals & Energy Finance, Asia at ING Bank, said: “Despite the challenging commodity market environment, Fangyuan Group is still one of the lowest cost producers of copper worldwide. The overwhelming success of this syndication is a testament not only to the strong financial standing and professionalism of the group, but also to the sector expertise and market knowledge of the two arrangers. We look forward to continuing to work with Fangyuan Group.”