Porsche takes 35 bln euro loan for Volkswagen buy
LONDON March 29 (Reuters) - German sports car maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) is raising a 35 billion euro syndicated loan to finance its takeover bid for Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), according to the arranging banks.
Porsche has appointed ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Commerzbank as mandated lead arrangers on the credit.
Porsche's takeover bid was triggered after it increased its shareholding in Volkswagen ordinary shares to 30.94 percent -- over the 30 percent threshold that prompts a full takeover bid under German law.
The jumbo loan will finance Porsche's mandatory public tender offer for the remaining outstanding ordinary and preferred shares, the banks said.
Porsche's 35 billion-euro loan is among the largest syndicated facilities seen in the EMEA loan market. The record is currently held by German utility E.ON's EONG.DE 37.1 billion-euro loan to back its bid for Spanish utility Endesa (ELE.MC). This figure is likely to be increased following E.ON's increased offer on Monday, banking sources said, however.
Porsche's loan has four tranches -- a 364-day line, a 364-day line with a term-out option, a three-year tranche and a three-year tranche with a two-year term out option.
The loan will be refinanced through a variety of sources including but not limited to capital-markets issues. A wider syndication will be launched in April.
In the context of the wider bid, Porsche has to submit documentation to the German regulator within four weeks from the start of this week, banking sources said, which has to be reviewed and approved by the regulator before the offer is posted.
((Reporting by Tessa Walsh, editing by Quentin Bryar; Reuters Messaging tessa.walsh@reuters.com@reuters.net, Email;tessa.walsh@reuters.com, Tel +44207 542 4048)) Keywords: VOLKSWAGEN LOAN/
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