RLPC-InBev's $45 bln loan launching to general syndication

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The $45 billion loan backing Belgian brewer InBev's INTB.BR planned takeover of Anheuser-Busch BUD.N will launch to a wider general syndication on Tuesday as bankers look to distribute the risk further after successfully completing senior syndication, two bankers close to the deal said.

A bank presentation is scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 9 in London to launch the second phase of syndication to a larger number of banks, which is expected to complete in six weeks.

"The underwriters are almost where we want to be and want to get more people involved to reduce positions," one banker said.

The 10 mandated lead arranging (MLAs) banks are upbeat on the result of senior syndication, which is viewed as a success as banks battle higher funding costs and increasing capital constraints.

Nine banks joined the 10 mandated lead arrangers in senior syndication, which reduced the MLAs $4.5-5 billion underwriting commitments to $3.225 billion, marginally over the target hold level of $3.2 billion, a second senior banker said.

Senior banks were invited to make large commitments of $1.75 billion each for substantial fees of 100 basis points (bps), which equate to $17.5 million per bank.

However, difficult loan market conditions, a troubled economic outlook and increasingly scarce capital meant that several senior banks opted to make smaller commitments, which left the MLAs fractionally over their target holds.

The nine banks that joined in senior syndication out of 20 invited banks are Bank of America, BayernLB/ Banque LBLux, Dresdner Bank AG, Intesa Sanpaolo, KBC Bank, Rabobank International, Scotia Capital, Societe Generale, and Toronto-Dominion Bank.

This gives 19 banks at the top of the deal in addition to bookunners and MLAs Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Fortis, ING, JP Morgan, Mizuho, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander.

MARGINS LINKED TO RATINGS

Margins on the loan are linked to a ratings grid: a BBB- rating implies margins of 100 bps over EURIBOR for a one-year tranche, 137.5 bps for a three-year tranche and 175 bps for a five-year tranche.

InBev received a BBB+ rating from Standard & Poor's earlier in July, and the company expects Moody's to publish its ratings soon, the first banker said.

In the event of a split rating, the final margin payable will be averaged from the two ratings, he added.

The $45 billion loan includes a one-year $7 billion bridge loan that will be repaid by asset disposals and a one-year $12 billion bridge loan to be repaid by capital markets issues, source said.

The remaining $26 billion will consist of a $13 billion three-year loan and a $13 billion five-year loan.

(Reporting by Zaida Espana; editing by Sharon Lindores)