Media enquiries should be directed to:
M: Communications
Mr. Stuart Leasor
Email: leasor@mcomgroup.com
Phone: +44 20 7920 2330
Mikhailov & Partners
Mr. Anton Kurevin
Email: Kurevin@m-p.ru
Phone: +7 919 960 4119
Geneva, 24 June 2010
Strong demand leads Gunvor to increase its facility to US$1,030,000,000
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor International“ or the “Company“) and Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd (“Gunvor Singapore”) are pleased to announce the successful signing of their US$1,030,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility (the “Facility”) which was significantly oversubscribed and increased from the initial launch amount of US$750,000,000.
The Facility was arranged by BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse AG, Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, ING Bank, Natixis, Rabobank International and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (together the “Bookrunning Mandated Lead Arrangers”).
A total of 16 banks committed during general syndication in addition to the 9 Bookrunning Mandated Lead Arrangers.
This Facility will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance the Company’s existing US$600,000,000 364-day revolving credit facility dated 30th June 2009. The Facility consists of 2 tranches split as follows:
An accordion clause will allow for a limited increase in the Facility Amount. Bank of Baroda, Mega ICBC and West LB have already committed to join through this clause.
Geneva, 28 May 2010
New Coal and Power Hires for Gunvor Energy Trading Division
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor”), one of the world’s major independent energy companies, continues to develop and enhance its world class energy trading team with the announcement of a number of key appointments in its Global Coal and European Gas & Power divisions.
Global Coal:
Henry Liew will join Gunvor as VP Coal - Asia on 1 June 2010, responsible for Origination and Marketing in Asia. Prior to joining Gunvor, Henry was responsible for growing the market share for thermal coal in Asian markets as an Executive Director with Straits Asia Resources, the Indonesian producer with more than 9 million tons per year of production and prior to that Henry held several business development and marketing positions in Asia, including BHP Billiton. Over the last 16 years, Henry has lived and worked in China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore, during which time he held key roles in the marketing of raw materials including coal, iron ore, manganese alloys, magnesium and aluminium within Asia. He will be based in Singapore.
Filippo Faralla will join Gunvor as VP Coal - South Africa on 1June 2010, responsible for Origination and Marketing in RSA. Filippo comes from Vitol’s coal trading business where he was responsible for coal investments. Previously he was part of the management team with Riversdale Mining, responsible for the acquisition and development of its anthracite mine and Mozambique coking coal project. Prior to this he was the General Manager, at African Carbon, the largest char (devolatilised coal) producer in South Africa prior to its sale to Xstrata. A mineral process engineer by training, Filippo started his career in the South African mining industry, before spending a number of years with Accenture, in their London office. He will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Commenting on these appointments, Matt Brock and Lee Kirk, Heads of Gunvor Coal & Freight, together said: "We are delighted to welcome the new members to the Gunvor Global Coal team. These appointments reflect our commitment to further expand our presence and capabilities in key global coal markets and to develop our long term partnerships with selected upstream producers and downstream clients, providing superior access to markets.”
European Gas & Power:
Christoph Bilshausen joins Gunvor as as Head of Origination – CEE, effective 1 August 2010. He will join Gunvor from Gazprom Marketing and Trading Germania where he was building the origination for Germany and Central Europe. He brings 10 years experience in the European energy trading markets from several European energy companies. Prior to joining Gazprom, Christoph was Vice President Origination CEE at Essent International. Before this, he had a number of positions in risk management and front office at Statkraft markets and Trianel Energy trading in Germany, focusing on structured products in continental Europe. He will be based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Geneva, 11 May 2010
HSBC joins syndicate arranging Gunvor’s $750m Revolving Credit Facility
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor International“ or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (“HSBC”) has joined the syndicate arranging the US$750,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility (the “Facility”) that was announced on 6 May 2010. HSBC will act as a Bookrunner with focus on Asia.
The other banks already mandated to arrange the Facility are BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse AG, Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V., ING Bank, Natixis, Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (trading as “Rabobank International”) and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (together the “Bookrunning Mandated Lead Arrangers”).
Geneva, 6 May 2010
Gunvor announces launch of $750m Revolving Credit Facility
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor International“ or the “Company“) is pleased to announce the launch of a US$750,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility (the “Facility”) in favour of Gunvor International and Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd (“Gunvor Singapore”).
BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse AG, Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V., ING Bank, Natixis, Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (trading as “Rabobank International”) and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (together the “Bookrunning Mandated Lead Arrangers”) have been mandated to arrange the Facility.
This Facility will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance the Company’s existing US$600,000,000 364-day revolving credit facility dated 30th June 2009. The Facility will consist of 2 tranches split as follows:
13 January 2010
Successful 2009 for Gunvor
The Gunvor Group, one of the world’s major independent energy companies announces that 2009 was a very good year for the company. Total traded oil volume was up 10% at 2.3m barrels per day. Turnover was $50bn, down from $65bn, due to a lower oil price in 2009 compared to 2008.
Earnings for the year were significantly higher than in 2008. Trading margins were particularly strong during the first half. There was growth in existing business areas, as well as expansion into the non-oil energy sector. Growth has taken place mainly outside the Group’s original core businesses, with 50% of its crude oil volumes now originating outside Russia.
During 2009 the Group made investments into physical assets such as oil terminals and facilities, the largest being into its oil export terminal in Ust-Luga, outside St Petersburg, Russia, which is expected to become operational in the first half of 2010.
In September Gunvor made its first direct investment in oil exploration when it purchased a 30% interest in the Lagansky Block in the Caspian Sea from Lundin Petroleum. So far this promising field has proven reserves of over 230 million barrels of oil.
The Company intends to continue its expansion in 2010, both geographically and by diversification. Gunvor’s new Energy Trading Division has executed its first trades in the natural gas, power and carbon markets and this side of the business is expected to develop appreciably. The investment programme into logistics infrastructure and oil exploration is continuing.
Commenting on the future, Torbjörn Törnqvist, Gunvor’s Chairman said, “2009 has been a very good year for Gunvor. For 2010 we anticipate that there will be a more competitive trading environment, with narrower margins. I am confident that the quality of Gunvor’s business model will enable it to remain competitive under any market conditions.”
11 January 2010
Gunvor Energy Trading is now operational
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor”), one of the world’s major independent energy companies, has now marked a new phase in its expansion into the European energy markets by entering its first trades in the Natural Gas, Power and Carbon markets over the New Year and extending its trading capability across North West and Central Europe for physical Gas & Power and Coal and Emissions across the globe.
Head of Trading, Stephen Cornish: "Operational barriers to entry for our markets remain significant but with the right expertise and talent we have had a great start in this respect, which has allowed us to be active on ICE, Nymex, Global Coal, EEX and Nordpool in a relatively short time frame. This platform will provide strong access to the European physical markets to complement our global Coal, Freight, LNG and Carbon trading.”
Gunvor now has full operational physical capability across the German power grids of Amprion (RWE), EnBW, Transpower (Eon) and 50Hertz (Vattenfall); the French grid of RTE; and across NCG, Gaspool and GTS for Natural Gas. Gunvor has also established its Dry Freight operational capabilities by leveraging the extensive market presence in the wet freight activities of the company's wholly owned shipping entity. Gunvor is expected to actively move physical thermal coal cargos across the Atlantic and Pacific basins in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the announcement, Paymon Aliabadi, Managing Director of Gunvor’s Global Energy Group said: “We are delighted to have moved from planning and preparation into successful operations, and to have done so in a short space of time. Our European physical business is a key element of our global strategy and we intend to continue to aggressively build and grow our capabilities going forward. We are nearing completion on Fluxys, NBP & CEGH for Natural Gas and the Dutch (Tennet) and Belgian (Elia) power grids. We expect to extend this physical access to the Nordic grids and Italy in Q1 2010 and Central European pipelines and grids in Q2 2010 to develop the quality and range of our offering to partners and counterparties.”
7 December 2009
Gunvor appoints Matt Brock as Head of Coal Trading
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor”), one of the world’s major independent energy companies announces the appointment of Matt Brock as Head of Coal Trading effective 1 February 2010.
Mr. Brock will join Gunvor from Vitol SA where he was trading manager for coal. He brings more than 14 years experience in the global commodity markets and managing coal portfolios in both Atlantic and Pacific Basins. Prior to joining Vitol, Brock was the Coal & Freight Manager at Nuon BV in The Netherlands. Prior to Nuon, Brock was at Nidera BV trading grains, soybeans and dry freight in a number of positions worldwide including The Netherlands, UK, USA, South Africa, Argentina and Singapore. He will be based in Geneva.
Commenting on the announcement, Paymon Aliabadi, Managing Director of Gunvor’s Global Energy Group said, “Matt is another great addition to the Gunvor energy trading team. Matt's arrival is another key component of Gunvor's plans to develop a world class trading team as Gunvor diversifies from purely oil trading into being a fully integrated energy trading company.”
19 November 2009
Gunvor appoints Stephane Caudron as Head of LNG
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor”), one of the world’s major independent
energy companies announces Stephane Caudron will be starting on 1 January 2010
as Head of LNG.
Mr. Caudron will join Gunvor from RBS Sempra where he was also Head of LNG. He brings more than 25 years experience in the Natural Gas markets having previously held senior positions in Gaz de France, where he was latterly Managing Director in charge of projects and EPC and Statoil where he developed downstream gas and LNG projects for the major in France and Southern Europe and was at the forefront of gas market deregulation in Europe. He will be based in Geneva.
Commenting on the announcement, Paymon Aliabadi, Head of Gunvor’s Global Energy Division said, “We are delighted that Stephane will be joining us. As Gunvor diversifies from purely oil trading into being a fully integrated energy trading company, Stephane is typical of the quality of individuals who are joining the company. He is a fantastic addition to our recently established Global Energy Division.”
1 September 2009
Gunvor Appoints Paymon Aliabadi to Head New Global Energy Division
Gunvor International B.V. (“Gunvor”), one of the world’s major independent
companies specialising in the trade, transport and storage of oil and petroleum
products, announces that it has appointed Mr Paymon Aliabadi to head its
newly formed Global Energy Division (Global Coal & Freight, Emissions &
Renewables, Gas & LNG and Power).
Mr Aliabadi, who started on 1 September 2009, joins Gunvor from Essent Trading International, a subsidiary of Essent N.V. the largest energy company in the Netherlands, where he was the Managing Director. Prior to joining Essent in 2004, he was Vice-President Energy Commodities at Sempra. Mr. Aliabadi will report directly to the Gunvor Board of Directors.
Commenting on the appointment, a Gunvor spokesman said, “We are delighted that Paymon has agreed to join us. He will head up our new Global Energy Division, the formation of which marks a significant step in our strategy of diversifying from purely oil trading into a fully integrated energy trading company. We believe that there are major opportunities to be gained from this expansion and expect that the new division could number 50 members of staff over the next two years.”
6th July 2009
Banks support Gunvor with USD 600m syndicated loan
6 July, Geneva: Leading independent oil trader Gunvor International B.V.,
headquartered in Amsterdam, has signed a revolving one-year credit facility
of USD 600m, successfully refinancing and extending last year’s debut of
USD 370m. Just as the 2008 debut was oversubscribed, this year’s refinancing
also attracted significant interest and original plans for a USD 450m facility
were extended by an additional USD 150m.
A total of 17 banks provided funds, made up of all existing lenders and a number of new ones not participating in last year’s facility. The consortium of banks was headed by BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse, this time joined as bookrunners by others who were among the arrangers of last year’s loans: Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V., ING Bank N.V., Rabobank International, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole (Suisse) S.A.
A Gunvor spokesman commented: "This is the first time Gunvor has refinanced a syndicated loan and we are encouraged by the support shown to the company, particularly given current market conditions. The banks' commitment is indicative of the trust they have in our business and confidence in our future growth plans. Gunvor has enjoyed rapid growth over the past decade, and we have plans to ensure continued expansion in existing and new markets."
The funds available will be drawn down for use as working capital and as a reserve for margin calls.
The banks acting as arrangers are: Natixis, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Ltd, ICBC (London) Ltd, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG, DBS Bank Ltd (London Branch), Deutsche Bank AG (Amsterdam Branch), BHF-Bank AG, Banque Cantonale de Genève and Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises.