Korean bank secures $262mln syndicated loan in Taiwan

17 participating banks were higher than what Kexim expected in fund raising initiative in Taiwan.

The Export Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) signed a dollar-denominated syndicated loan worth US$262 million with Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB) Wednesday -- the first time a Korean firm has ever raised capital via a syndicated loan in Taiwan.

TCB, the lead bank for the syndicated loan, said that 17 banks took part in the loan, which was over-subscribed by 30 percent against the originally planned amount of US$200 million.

"The number of banks participating syndicated loan in Taiwan were higher than our expectations," said a senior official in TCB's syndication department who declined to be named.

The amount of most of the bank's syndicated loans over the past year was less than US$200 million, the official noted.

The official said that many local major banks participated in the syndication because Kexim is a state-run bank with sound credit ratings, and the loan's interest rate is relatively good.

The terms -- interest rates plus up-front fees -- for the syndication were 143 basis points over the 90-day London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) -- which was quoted at 0.2906 percent Wednesday. That resulted in the cost of borrowing at 1.7206 percent, the official said.

View the full story in Focus Taiwan.