LyondellBasell amends and restates $8 billion bridge loan

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Oct. 23 - LyondellBasell Industries amended and restated its $8 billion bridge loan, according to an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.

Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, ABN Amro and UBS acted as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners on the deal that was completed on Oct. 17.

Under the amendment and restatement, the bridge loan was retranched into a $3.5 billion fixed-rate second-lien loan priced at 12% per annum, with an increase to 12.5% in the case of certain ratings downgrades, a $2 billion floating-rate second-lien loan and a $2.5 billion floating-rate third-lien loan.

The amendments also include provisions allowing lenders under the bridge loan within 180 days after Oct. 17 to convert retranched fixed-rate second-lien loans into fixed-rate second-lien notes, or a combination of fixed-rate second-lien notes and up to $1 billion of fixed-rate third-lien notes and/or fixed-rate unsecured notes.

All of the fixed-rate second-lien loans will automatically convert into fixed-rate second-lien notes if no election is made by the lenders to convert a portion of the fixed-rate second-lien loans to fixed-rate third-lien or unsecured notes within the 180-day period.

After the fixed-rate second-lien loans have been converted into exchange notes and certain lenders hold, in aggregate, less than $950 million of such notes, lenders are allowed to convert new floating-rate second-lien loans into fixed-rate second-lien notes and to convert new floating-rate third-lien loans into fixed-rate third-lien notes and/or fixed-rate unsecured notes.

In all such cases, the exchange notes will bear interest at a rate equal to 12% per annum, increasing to 12.5% in the case of certain ratings downgrades, may be denominated in euro or dollars, and will have maturity dates between June 2015 and December 2019.

LyondellBasell is a Netherlands-based polymers, petrochemicals and fuels company

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