JSC “Sovereign Wealth Fund” “Samruk-Kazyna” prepaid their USD 1.5bn syndicated loan ahead of schedule. The 5 year loan was initially signed in 2015 to finance the acquisition of a 50% stake in KMG Kashagan BV.

A USD 900m repayment was made from Samruk-Kazyna’s own funds while the remaining amount was refinanced with a new USD 600m deal. MUFG was Coordinator, Bookrunner and MLA on the deal and was joined by a syndicate of a further 5 international and Kazakhstani banks: Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, JSC “Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan”, JSC “Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in (Almaty)" and Citibank Kazakhstan.

The refinancing and prepayment of the 2015 Facility is designed to increase the profitability of the group of companies of the Fund, as well as to reduce the cost of borrowed resources and external debt.

Through the new USD 600m transaction, Samruk-Kazyna has retained its presence in the international debt capital markets whilst also reducing external debt by USD 900m. The Fund also significantly reduced the cost of the loan, which is a notable success and allows the formation of a new competitive benchmark.

This transaction also allows a synchronization of the Fund's cash flows by extending the maturity date of the loan from 2020 until the end of 2022, due to the appropriate postponement of the option agreement for the repurchase of shares of KMG Kashagan B.V. by JSC NC “KazMunayGaz”.

In addition, KazMunayGaz's external debt was reduced by 1.6 billion U.S. dollars due to the repayment of its international bonds.