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JOHANNESBURG, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Sibanye Gold Ltdhas secured a loan of $2.65 billion to support the acquisitionof Stillwater Mining Company, the only U.S. miner of platinumand palladium, the South African company said on Monday.
The diversified mining company closed the syndication of thebridging loan underwritten by Citi and HSBC who will also act asmandated lead arrangers and book runners.
The loan facilities were oversubscribed by more than $1billion and divided into three tranches.
The first tranche was a $750 million bridge-to-equitycomponent which will be repaid following a planned rights issue.
The other parts are a $300 million bridge-to-cash elementand a $1.6 billion bridge to debt capital markets component.
Sibanye said in December it would pay $2.2 billion forStillwater, which operates in Montana, extending its push intoplatinum mining.
The syndication attracted interest from banks acting asmandated lead arrangers including Barclays Bank PLC, CreditSuisse International and J.P. Morgan.
"It is pleasing to note the strong support for thetransaction from a significant number of leading banks. This isa clear vote of confidence on the merits of the Transaction,following detailed due diligence by the syndicate banks," saidSibanye chief executive officer Neal Froneman.
The deal will make Sibanye the world's third largestpalladium producer and fourth largest platinum group metalsminer. (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Keith Weir)
