Tata Chemicals Ltd, part of India's second-largest business group, hired seven banks to arrange US$850 million in loans to fund the purchase of US-based General Chemical Industrial Products Inc, three people with direct knowledge of the deal said.
The Mumbai-based company appointed HSBC Holdings Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, ABN Amro Holding NV, Calyon, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Rabobank Nederland and Bank of Nova Scotia to arrange the loan, which includes US$500 million for seven years and US$350 million of short-term borrowing, said the people, who declined to be identified as the information isn't public.
Tata Chemicals, India's biggest producer of salt, in January agreed to buy General Chemical for US$1 billion to become the world's second-largest maker of soda ash. Tata Chemicals bought UK-based Brunner Mond Group in December 2005, raising its soda-ash capacity to about 3 million tonnes, accounting for 8 percent of the global market.
Calls to Prashant Ghose, chief financial officer at Tata Chemicals, were not returned.
Tata Chemicals plans to pay interest that is 1.35 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate for the seven-year loan, said the people. Three-month Libor was set at 2.94 percent on Friday.
Shares of the company have gained 2 percent since announcing the acquisition, outpacing the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex, which fell 12 percent.
Moody's ranks the company's foreign-currency debt Baa3, the lowest investment grade.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS