Metinvest, the vertically integrated steel and mining group of companies, has completed the refinancing of its US$2,271 million of debt, consisting of the issuance of two tranches of bonds and the amendment and restatement of its pre-export finance (PXF) facility.

As part of this refinancing, Linklaters acted for the bookrunners on (i) the issuance of US$1,592 million of new bonds and (ii) a liability management exercise in respect of existing bonds due 2021 (structured as a tender offer and parallel consent solicitation). Notably, the bond issue is Metinvest’s largest to date, with its lowest ever coupon and longest maturity. It is also the largest ever bond issue by a Ukrainian corporate.

Metinvest successfully priced the US$1,350 million bond offering across two tranches: a US$825 million 5-year tranche at 7.75% per annum due in April 2023; and a US$525 million 8-year tranche at 8.50% per annum due in April 2026. The majority of the bond investors come from the UK, US and continental Europe.

As certain lenders under the PXF facility agreed to convert their holdings under the PXF facility into the new bonds, the final issue size of the bond issue in fact amounted to US$1,592.2 million: consisting of US$944.5 million for the 5-year tranche and US$647.7 million for the 8-year tranche.

Deutsche Bank and ING served as global coordinators and, together with Natixis and UniCredit, acted as joint bookrunners of the bond refinancing. The Linklaters team was led by Capital Markets partners Cecil Quillen and Richard O'Callaghan and senior associate Yaroslav Alekseyev. The team also included managing associates Olga Fedosova and Amrita Ahluwalia and associate Katie Ahern. Sayenko Kharenko advised the bookrunners on this transaction as to Ukrainian law.