Baker McKenzie advised Akbank on a US$ 404,512,884 and a EU 738,271,106 Dual Currency Term Loan Facilities Agreement signed on 21 March 2017. The Facilities will primarily be utilised for Akbank's trade finance and general corporate purposes.
The bank syndicate was composed of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, and ICBC Turkey Yatirim Menkul Degerler A.S acted as Joint Coordinators & Bookrunners. Bank of America Merrill Lynch also acted as Documentation Agent, Emirates NBD Capital Limited acted as Publicity Agent and Mizuho Bank acted as Facility Agent. The bank syndicate consisted of 38 international including 19 Bookrunning Mandated Lead Arrangers, 3 Lead Arrangers and 16 Arrangers.
Bookrunners & Mandated Lead Arrangers were Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, The Arab Investment Company, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, BNP Paribas, China Development Bank Corporation, Citibank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ING, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Bank, Natixis, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Lead Arrangers were The Bank of New York Mellon, Banca UBAE and Wells Fargo Bank.
Arrangers were Axis Bank, Banca popolare dell'Emilia Romagna (Europe) International, Banco de Sabadell, CaixaBank, CoBank, Credit Suisse, DZ BANK AG, Goldman Sachs, Habib Bank Limited, Intesa Sanpaolo, KfW IPEX-Bank, Mashreq Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, UBI Banca, Union De Banques Arabes Et Francaises and Zurcher Kantonalbank.
"This transaction is an excellent example of the strength of the Turkish banking sector, and in particular Akbank, in terms of attracting international finance at a time when there is quite a bit of uncertainty in the markets" commented Paris-based Michael Foundethakis, Head of EMEA Banking & Finance at Baker McKenzie.
Akbank is one of the leading banks in Turkey with over USD 84 billion consolidated assets as of 2016YE. Akbank provides financial solutions to its 15 million consumer and corporate clients with a strong and extensive distribution network including 14,000 employees and 850 branches. Akbank is also based on its non-banking subsidiaries Ak Asset Management, Ak Investment and Ak Lease.
An international team of Baker McKenzie in Paris and Esin Attorney Partnership in Istanbul (a member firm of Baker McKenzie) advised Akbank: Michael Foundethakis, Partner in the Paris office and Head of EMEA Banking & Finance Group and Muhsin Keskin, Partner and Head of Banking and Finance and Capital Markets Practices in Esin Attorney Partnership led the team composed of Nicholas Macheras, Senior Associate in Paris and Berk Cin, Associate in Istanbul.