X5 RETAIL raises three year syndicated loan

Russian retailer X5 Retail has announced this morning that it has secured a three year USD1.1 billion syndicated loan.The loan will be used to refinance the company's one-year USD1 billion bridge loan signed in June and will also be puttoward general corporate purposes. "The new facility enhances X5's financial flexibility, improves its debt structure byreplacing short-term obligations and reduces future cost of funding by avoiding a significant step-up in the interest rateon the previous bridge loan," according to Evgeny Kornilov, deputy chief financial officer of X5.