Programme overview
Introduction:
Corporate borrowers turn to bank groups when a single lender cannot hold the whole exposure, yet mandates are often won on terms the market will not absorb, books close short and arrangers keep more of the loan than planned. This Core Concept course builds syndicated loans and loan structuring skills for arranging banks and borrower treasuries: winning and pricing a mandate, choosing an underwritten, best-efforts or club route, running book-building and allocation, and shaping tranches, fees, financial ratios and lender voting. Each participant produces a Syndicated Term Sheet and Syndication Plan for a case borrower.
Course Objectives:
- Advise a borrower on whether a syndicated, club or bilateral facility best fits its funding amount, lender relationships and timing
- Select an underwritten, best-efforts or club syndication route and set market flex and final hold levels that limit arranger retention risk
- Run a book-building process from information memorandum and lender invitations to commitment tiers, scale-back and final allocation
- Structure a syndicated term sheet with tranche mix, reference-rate margin, pricing grid, fee stack and financial ratio thresholds
- Negotiate guarantee, ranking, intercreditor and lender voting terms, including Islamic syndicated murabaha, ijara and wakala structures
- Prepare a credit approval memo for an arranger share and plan the refinancing or amend-and-extend of an existing syndicate
Target Audience:
- Managers who originate and arrange syndicated and club facilities for corporate borrowers
- Managers on loan syndication and distribution desks who build lender books and allocate tickets
- Credit managers who approve participations and arranger underwriting shares
- Corporate treasury managers who raise, price and refinance multi-bank facilities
- Managers in loan agency teams who coordinate lender groups, consents and transfers
- Islamic banking managers who structure multi-lender murabaha, ijara and wakala financings
Course Outline:
Day 1: Syndicated Lending Market and Arranger Roles
- Syndicated Versus Bilateral Lending: Hold Size, Relationship Economics and Borrower Motives
- Syndicate Hierarchy: Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner, Co-Arranger and Participant Tiers
- Facility Agent and Security Trustee Functions Within the Lender Group
- Primary Market Participants: Relationship Banks, Regional Lenders and Institutional Investors
- Borrower Funding Needs Diagnostic and Syndication Suitability Screen
Day 2: Mandate, Syndication Strategy and Book-Building Models
- Mandate Letter Choices: Underwritten, Best-Efforts and Club Deal Routes
- Market Flex Provisions and Underwriting Retention Risk
- Information Memorandum, Banker Presentation and Lender Invitation Sequence
- Book-Building Mechanics: Commitment Tiers, Oversubscription and Scale-Back
- Final Allocation Policy and Ticket Size Rules for Participating Banks
Day 3: Term Sheet Structuring, Tranches and Pricing
- Syndicated Term Sheet Architecture: Purpose, Amount, Tenor and Repayment Profile
- Facility Menu: Amortising Term Tranche, Revolving Tranche, Letter of Credit and Swingline Lines
- Margin Over Reference Rate and Rating or Ratio-Linked Pricing Grid
- Fee Stack: Arrangement, Participation, Commitment and Agency Fees by Ticket Tier
- Financial Ratio Package: Gearing, Interest Cover and Debt Service Cover Thresholds with Test Dates
Day 4: Credit Support, Lender Voting, Islamic Structures and Refinancing
- Guarantor Coverage Tests, Negative Pledge and Pari Passu Ranking
- Intercreditor Terms Among Senior Lenders, Hedging Banks and Shareholder Lenders
- Majority, Super-Majority and Unanimous Lender Decisions with Defaulting Lender and Transfer Clauses
- Islamic Syndicated Financing: Syndicated Murabaha, Ijara and Wakala with an Investment Agent
- Refinancing, Amend-and-Extend and Maturity Wall Management for Existing Syndicates
Day 5: Case Work: Syndicated Term Sheet and Syndication Plan
- Case Borrower Data Pack Review and Facility Size Recommendation
- Syndication Plan Build: Route, Target Lender List, Timetable and Fee Split
- Syndicated Term Sheet Drafting for the Case Borrower
- Credit Approval Memo for the Arranger Underwriting Share
- Lender Group Pitch and Credit Committee Peer Challenge
Skills You Will Gain:
- Syndication Route Selection
- Book-Building and Allocation
- Term Sheet Structuring
- Tranche and Fee Design
- Financial Ratio Threshold Setting
- Lender Voting and Intercreditor Negotiation
- Islamic Syndicated Structuring
- Credit Approval Memo Writing
Why Attend This Course:
- Return with a Syndicated Term Sheet and Syndication Plan built for a case borrower and challenged by peers
- Win and price mandates with a clear view of how route, flex and hold size move risk onto the arranger
- Speak the language of arrangers, participants and agents when negotiating fees, tickets and consent thresholds
- Compare syndication practice with peers from conventional and Islamic banks, finance companies and corporate treasuries
Conclusion:
Syndicated loans and loan structuring decisions succeed when the route, the terms and the lender group fit the borrower and the market at the same time. The course moves from the syndicated market and arranger roles, through mandates, syndication strategy and book-building, to term sheet structuring, tranches, pricing and financial ratios, and then to credit support, lender voting, Islamic structures and refinancing. The final day applies these methods to a case borrower and produces a Syndicated Term Sheet and Syndication Plan.