CC and Norton Rose lead on $400m refinancing of mining company
Clifford Chance (CC) and Norton Rose have advised on a $400m (£265m) refinancing for international mining company Equinox Minerals. The Toronto and Australia-listed company will use the senior and subordinated loan facility to refinance existing debt for its subsidiary Lumwana Mining Company, where it will help finance the development of the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.
March 17, 2010 at 07:32 AM
2 minute read
Equinox Minerals advised on financing of Zambian copper mines
Clifford Chance (CC) and Norton Rose have advised on a $400m (£265m) refinancing for international mining company Equinox Minerals.
The Toronto and Australia-listed company will use the senior and subordinated loan facility to refinance existing debt for its subsidiary Lumwana Mining Company, where it will help finance the development of the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia.
Equinox turned to regular adviser Norton Rose for the deal, with infrastructure and commodities head Martin McCann leading the team.
CC, meanwhile, came in for the arranging banks, with a team led by London finance partner Jeremy Connick. The refinancing was arranged and provided by Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Middle East).
Standard Bank, Standard Chartered and BNP were already lenders to Lumwana.
The loan facilities are made up of a $220m (£146m) three-year loan and a $180m (£120m) five-year revolving credit facility. This can be increased to $200m (£133m) subject to agreement from the banks.
McCann told Legal Week: "In recent times junior mining companies have had a lot of difficulty refinancing their original project finance facilities. We have more typically been exploring rather creative trade products. For Equinox to pull off a refinancing of this scale with a number of the existing lenders is testament to the strength of its management and the insatiable desire of the Chinese market for copper."
Connick added: "This was a very interesting financing, demonstrating the enhanced appetite that some commercial banks have for political risk in African jurisdictions that they understand well."
Norton Rose advised Equinox on its original project financing in 2006 when it raised $1bn (£664m) for its Zambian copper mine.
That deal saw McCann leading the team alongside projects partner Jonathan Brufal, while New York's Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy advised the financing banks, including Standard Chartered and Standard Bank.
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