JBIC, Others to Back Nippon Steel’s Acquisition of U.S. Steel

Tokyo, March 17 (Jiji Press)–A consortium of public and private financial institutions, including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, plans to provide some 900 billion yen in loans to Nippon Steel Corp. to support its acquisition of United States Steel Corp., it was learned Tuesday. JBIC, affiliated with the Japanese government, is expected to extend about 550 billion yen, while major banks, including Japan’s three megabanks, will provide about 350 billion yen, informed sources said. In June last year, Nippon Steel acquired U.S. Steel for 14.1 billion dollars, or about 2 trillion yen. Although Nippon Steel procured acquisition funds through bridge loans, the company has indicated a policy of refinancing the loans within a year to avoid a negative impact on its finances from high interest rates. Nippon Steel has already procured 700 billion yen mainly in subordinated loans and 600 billion yen in convertible bonds with stock acquisition rights. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]