Calyon acted as Joint Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent of a syndicated USD 725 million 5 year pre-export loan for Braskem S.A.

Despite the difficult market conditions, the transaction was successfully upsized from the original amount of USD 500 million and closed in early October 2008. The proceeds were used to fully repay the balance of the USD 1.2 billion bridge loan raised by the company in to acquire the petrochemical assets of Ipiranga Group in April 2007. The first amortization of such bridge happened last May, when Braskem issued a USD 500 million 10-year bond, with Calyon already acting as a joint bookrunner. The pre-export facility attracted sixteen banks in addition to the three bookrunners. Calyon also provided a portion of the interest hedging of the transaction.

The deal demonstrated the strong coordination between several groups within Calyon, mainly the Syndication, Fixed Income Markets and Corporate Coverage teams.

Braskem, controlled by the Odebrecht group, is the leader in the petrochemical industry in Latin America. It produces a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, mainly polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and aromatics.