Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Saudi Arabia's fifth-largest bank by assets, has launched syndication of a $300 million loan via bookrunners Calyon, Intesa Sanpaolo, RZB, SMBC and WestLB, the lenders announced on Friday. The deal, which is for general corporate purposes, is split between a three-year tranche A paying a margin of 70 basis points (bps) over LIBOR and a five-year tranche B that pays 100 bps. Participating banks are able to commit to either tranche or both tranches. Lenders are invited to commit at one of four levels and the top $35 million ticket pays an upfront fee of 60 bps on the A tranche and 125 bps on the B facility. BSF last tapped the loan market in June 2005, when it signed a $650 million, five-year term loan that paid a margin of 35 bps.
