Leading vertically-integrated phosphate-based fertiliser producer PhosAro has raised its debut pre-export financing of $250mn from a group of international banks including French bank Société Générale, Russian bank Rosbank, and Austrian bank UniCredit Bank Austria AG that acted as coordinating mandated lead arrangers, the company said in a press release. 

The international capital markets are slowly opening up again to leading Russian corporates, who have been able to issue a small number of bonds recently as political tensions fade.

PhosAgro's facility was signed by its subsidiary JSC PhosAgro-Cherepovets and the company says it will use the funds to refinance existing debt. Drawdown of the facility will begin before the end of June.

PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev said: "I am pleased to note that the cost of foreign-currency financing for high-quality borrowers like PhosAgro has returned to an attractive level. This new PXF will be used for refinancing of existing short-term debt and refinancing of more expensive debt. It will also serve as a benchmark transaction to test the appetite for the PhosAgro name, and to ensure we have a full range of financing options available, in anticipation of the $500mn Eurobond refinancing in 2018."

Ilya Polyakov, the first deputy chairman of Rosbank's management board and Société Générale's corporate and investment banking head of coverage and investment banking for Russia and the CIS, said: "This successful debut pre-export loan for PhosAgro, which is a key client of Société Générale/Rosbank in Russia, was possible thanks to our longstanding relationship. This deal was successful thanks to PhosAgro being an exceptionally high-quality borrower with an excellent management team, combined with Société Générale's leading position and competencies in the area of structured finance."

UniCredit Bank management board member Kirill Zhukov-Emelyanov said: "As part of the large international UniCredit banking group, we are happy to support the successful development of our long-time strategic partner PhosAgro. This deal's success once again confirmed UniCredit's leading position in the structured finance market."