RIL signs financing facility with JP Morgan

Mumbai: Reliance Industries has signed a $400-million (nearly Rs 2,000 crore) financing facility with global financial services firm JP Morgan for its capital expenditure programme.

“The structured finance solution created by JP Morgan with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (‘US Ex-Im Bank’) the official US export credit agency, involves an 11-year facility providing RIL with financing of up to $400 million to support RIL’s equipment purchases from a total of 17 US suppliers,” said a statement from JP Morgan.

Over the past four months, RIL has been able to raise more than $2.5 billion, including this new facility, said the statement.

In a year marked by tumultuous market conditions, a tight liquidity environment and an increased focus on risk mitigation; this financing facility marks a significant achievement, it added.

JP Morgan said it was the arranger, lender and facility agent for this transaction. “We expect to see a rapid growth in the demand for US export programmes in the near future, especially for clients seeking long-term financing solutions,” Mr Simon Jones, head of JP Morgan’s Treasury Services in Asia Pacific, said.

JP Morgan said it has a dedicated multi-disciplinary team supporting this type of financing facility.

“This structure allows the firm to manage the US Ex-Im Bank credit guarantee process efficiently, while addressing the objectives, preferences and constraints of all parties to a transaction,” Mr Jones was quoted as saying.

RIL’s capital expenditure programme for the near future includes oil and gas exploration, its new petrochemicals complex at Jamnagar (through Reliance Petroleum) and various retail projects.