Mercuria closes deals worth over US$5bn including first ECA backing by SACE
(Global Trade Review, London, 28 June 2023) Mercuria has secured over US$5bn in new and renewed financing facilities, including its first funding backed by an export credit agency (ECA). The global commodities trader, which focuses on energy products, metals and minerals, says it has closed three financing arrangements from a range of global banks. Among those is a €500mn (US$546mn) multi-currency facility guaranteed by Italy’s ECA Sace, to supply the country with natural gas and LNG. Mercuria group CFO says the deal is the trader’s first ECA-backed transaction and comes after Italy agreed to support a similar financing deal with Mercuria’s rival Trafigura for the supply of metals to the country. While both are import deals, they were struck under Sace’s Push Strategy, which aims to support Italian suppliers’ access to international markets by targeting large foreign buyers. Natixis, Société Générale, UBS and UniCredit are mandated lead arrangers on the facility while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is lead arranger. Mercuria Energy Group Ltd is a Cypriot-domiciled multinational commodity trading company active in a wide spectrum of global energy markets including crude oil and refined petroleum products, natural gas, power, biodiesel, base metals and agricultural products.