TNK-BP Signs $675 Million Loan

Russia's third-largest oil company TNK-BP signed a $675 million loan with a group of banks, falling short of its targeted $750 million after one bank was unable to commit to the financing, banking sources said on Tuesday.

Nine banks - Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, ING, Mizuho, Raiffeisen Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale and Unicredit - provided $75 million each for the financing, which the company will use for general corporate purposes.

A tenth bank was unable to provide its $75 million commitment to the loan after it failed to get approval from its credit committee, one banker said.

The banker said that the tenth bank may have been conflicted in providing the financing as Russian state-controlled peer Rosneft is in talks with 12 to 14 banks to raise around $15 billion in financing to potentially buy BP's 50% stake in TNK-BP.

TNK-BP is facing a hike in pricing on its new three-year loan, which pays a margin of 270 basis points (bps) over Libor compared with 130 bps for the borrower's previous $1.5 billion four-year deal signed in August 2011.

TNK-BP declined to comment.