(EnergyAsia, October 29 2012, Monday) — Dutch oil and chemicals logistics giant Royal Vopak said it has raised a total of US$1 billion in various currencies from a new notes programme through a private placement in the US.

Comprising a senior tranche of US$900 million and a subordinated tranche of US$100 million, the programme was subscribed to by 37 institutional investors, including 10 new ones.

The senior notes of various tranches with maturities ranging from 10.5 to 14.5 years pay an average annual interest rate of 3.94% while the seven-year subordinated notes pay an average annual interest rate of 4.99%.

Vopak said the proceeds, to be made available later this year, will be used to repay outstanding debt and for other general corporate purposes. The programme will align the maturity profile of the outstanding debt with Vopak’s long-term growth strategy and will provide maximum flexibility under the current EUR 1.2 billion revolving credit facility (RCF) which had been extended by a year to 2017 at the start of 2012.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc, JP Morgan Securities LLC and RBS Securities Inc acted as joint agents for this transaction.

Jack de Kreij, Vopak’s vice-chairman and chief financial officer, said:

“For our fourth US private placement programme since 2001, we again not only experienced strong interest, but were also able to attract a new group of long-term investors. This confirms Vopak’s ongoing access to relevant capital markets. In combination with our current US and Asian PP programmes, our RCF and our portfolio of specific project financing this new notes programme further enables the execution of our growth ambitions as reflected in our global terminal network expansion strategy, supported by a robust customer demand and a strong financial performance over the last years.”