Scotiabank raises $300m for MHTL

Scotiabank TT Ltd (SBTT) has continued to demonstrate its corporate banking and capital market capabilities by raising $300 million of Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd’s (MHTL) $1 billion unsecured syndicated term loan.

Scotiabank is a joint lead arranger, lender and agent for MHTL’s first local TT-dollar fundraising loan.The other financial institutions are Ansa Merchant Bank and Republic Bank.

In a media release yesterday, the bank noted said the deal was oversubscribed with interest from both local and international players. Scotiabank is ranked No 1 in Latin America Bloomberg league tables for syndications for 2019.

Corporate and commercial banking general manager Damian K Jones said the deal "represents yet another example where Scotiabank has been able to leverage our group’s global expertise in the energy sector to meet our clients’ needs.

“This is a great moment for Scotiabank TT Ltd and our partners Methanol Holdings.” MHTL chief financial officer Nello Ramkissoon said the company is “extremely pleased to have secured this new term facility.“MHTL has a strong reputation here in TT and globally as a leader in the methanol industry, with over 35 years’ experience in the methanol business.”

The term facility bears an interest rate of 5.5 per cent per annum for the first 18 months, for three years and is unsecured with interest payable semi-annually. MHTL is one of the largest methanol producers in the world, with a total capacity of over four million metric tonnes annually, and 1.5 million metric tonnes of fertiliser products, from its five methanol plants at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.

The company is the largest supplier of methanol to North America and is also a significant supplier to the European market.While the company formerly only produced methanol, it is now a multi-product petrochemical company. MHTL is part of the Proman Group, headquartered in Switzerland.