Syndicated Loan Financing
What is “Syndicated Loan Financing”?
A syndicated loan is financing provided by a group of lenders known as a syndicate, who collaborate together to provide funds for a single borrower. This type of financing can also be referred to as a syndicated bank facility. It is structured, arranged, and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks known as the lead arrangers. Each lender in the syndicate contributes part of the loan amount, sharing the lending risk. The borrower can be a corporation, a large individual project, or a sovereign government.
Syndicated loans started as a medium for allowing lenders to lend large sums of money to a single borrower where the sums involved went beyond the credit appetite of a single lender. In general, the arrangers serve the investment-banking role of raising investor funding for an issuer in need of capital and receive a fee for this service. The price paid by the issuer varies depending on the complexity and risk factors involved in the loan. Interest rates on such loans can either be fixed or floating and are typically quoted with respect to a benchmark rate such as the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR).
Key Learning Points
- Syndicated loan financing refers to a credit facility offered by a group of lenders called a syndicate, who work together to provide debt to a large borrower
- The borrower can be a corporation, an individual project, or a sovereign government
- The syndicated loan sum is spread across many lenders, each contributing to part of the total in order to mitigate the default risk
- The lenders in a loan syndicate share the risk and are only exposed to their portion of the loan
Understanding Syndicated Loan Financing
Syndicated loan financing is usually sought after by large borrowers who require large amounts of capital that exceed a single lender’s resource or underwriting capacity. The lead bank or underwriter, also known as the arranger or lead lender, may contribute a proportionally more significant share of the loan. The lead bank or arranger is often responsible for coordinating the initial transaction, fees, compliance reports, loan monitoring, repayments throughout the duration of the loan, and the overall reporting for all lending parties. In addition, the lead bank may engage in other duties such as dispersing cash flows among the other syndicate members and administrative tasks.
There is only one loan agreement for the entire syndicate. However, each lender’s liability is limited to their respective share of the loan interest. The terms of the loan agreement are usually uniform for all lenders, except for collateral requirements. Collateral requirements are generally assigned to different assets of the borrower for each lender. The main goal of a syndicated bank facility is to spread the risk of a borrower default across multiple lenders, thereby allowing individual lenders to provide a large loan while maintaining more prudent and manageable credit exposure. Syndicated loan financing is often used for funding mergers and acquisitions, large corporate takeovers by leveraged buyouts with primarily debt financing, and other capital expenditure projects.
Example
Assume ABC Incorporated wants to takeover XYZ Ltd and completely overhaul the business. ABC Incorporated anticipates that the overhaul will cost $1 billion.
ABC Incorporated approaches Citigroup Inc for a loan. Citigroup Inc approves the loan, but it decides to form a loan syndicate because the amount is large and greater than the bank’s risk tolerance.
In this case, Citigroup Inc acts as the lead bank and brings together a group of other banks to participate, thereby forming the syndicate. It contracts JPMorgan, HSBC Holdings PLC, Mizuho Financial Group, and Credit Suisse to participate in the loan. As the lead bank, Citigroup Inc contributes $300 million to the loan, and the balance of $700 million is shared between the other syndicate members. JPMorgan contributes $200 million, HSBC Holdings PLC $150 million, Mizuho Financial Group $250 million, and Credit Suisse $100 million.
Because it is acting as the lead bank, Citigroup Inc organizes the terms, covenants, and other details necessary for the loan. Once the administrative tasks are complete, and the syndicate is approved, ABC Incorporated receives the loan amount of $ 1 billion from the loan syndicate.
Conclusion
Syndicated loan financing refers to credit extended to a borrower by two or more lenders. The financing is structured and administered by one of the lenders, the lead bank, who is also responsible for overseeing documentation and repayment. It usually involves a considerable loan amount that one lender cannot afford or exceeds its risk tolerance. By contracting a group of lenders, the risk of default is mitigated.
Below is a multiple-choice question to test your knowledge. Download the accompanying excel file for a full explanation of the correct answer.
