The Hungarian energy group MOL announced on Wednesday that it has been granted a loan of 2.1 billion euros for new acquisitions and the buyback of its own shares.
The corresponding agreement was signed on Tuesday, and MOL stated that the purpose of the loan is "general corporate needs," including acquisitions, as reported by the Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday. According to earlier media reports, the company is expected to use the loan for the buyback of its own shares. The value of the loan agreed upon exceeds the original request by 100 million euros.
It was approved by a syndicate of banks that includes, among others, Societe Generale, KBC Bank Dublin Branch, Bank Austria Creditanstalt (UniCredit), and BNP Paribas. The final list of banks participating in the syndication of the loan will be published in mid-October. The repayment term for the loan is three years, and the interest rate is LIBOR plus 27.5 basis points. After the first half of the year, MOL had net debts of only 35.5 billion forints (approximately 140 million euros) and a gearing ratio (net debt to equity) of just 3.3 percent. (H)
