UPDATE 1-Rosneft raises $3 bln loan to refinance debt
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MOSCOW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft (ROSN.MM) (ROSNq.L), said on Friday it had raised a $3 billion syndicated loan from a group of international banks to repay bridge loans raised last year to finance acquisitions.
The firm said it had raised the loan, secured by export contracts for the sale of crude oil, at LIBOR +0.95 percent.
The facility is arranged and fully underwritten by a group of international banks including ABN Amro Bank, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG, ING Bank, JPMorgan and others.
The loan will partly refinance $11.75 billion of bridge loans extended in 2007 to finance Rosneft's purchase of assets belonging to bankrupt oil firm YUKOS, which made Rosneft Russia's biggest oil producer and refiner.
The purchase also made Rosneft the most indebted Russian oil firm, with total debt amounting to around $28 billion, including $25 billion owed to financial institutions.
The firm has said it plans to refinance around $5 billion of the credit by mid-March and $6.5 billion matures in September. (Reporting by Tanya Mosolova; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
