BASIS POINT-China United Cement seeks 798 mln yuan acquisition loan

Feb 7 (Reuters Basis Point) - State-owned China United Cement Group Corp is seeking a Rmb798m three-year loan for the acquisition of Daewoo Cement (Shandong) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Daewoo International Corp, banking sources said.

Several banks, including Chinese and foreign, are looking at the deal that is said to offer a margin of 110% of the PBOC rate.

CemWeek, a global cement industry information provider, reported last year that China United Cement signed an acquisition deal with Daewoo on August 9 for 100% of its shares.

A banking source said the deal would cost more than Rmb1.8bn and that half of the amount would be paid by the loan.

Another source said the acquisition deal was still in process and that the loan would not be launched until the acquisition is completed.

China United Cement signed a Rmb1.1bn two-tranche loan led by China Citic Bank in March 2009 for working capital.

That facility comprises a Rmb780m three-year term loan tranche A and a Rmb320m one-year revolving credit tranche B. Both tranches paid a margin of 95% of the PBOC rate. (Reporting by Kane Wu in HONG KONG; Editing by Chris Lewis)