The coffers of Mechel (MTL +0.00%) are now much fuller. The company has signed an agreement for a 40 billion ruble ($1.3 billion) loan from VTB Bank, a lender based in Mechel's home base of Russia. Of the total, roughly 25 billion ($802 million) will go toward the servicing of short-term facilities coming due in 2013. It also aims to refinance other debt obligations with the monies.
The loan, which comes due in 2018, has a 15-month grace period before quarterly amortization starts to kick in. The interest rate is pegged to Mechel's net debt/EBITDA ratio, which will decrease along with the firm's de-leveraging.
