Brookfield has selected KB Kookmin Bank to lead a KRW10.7tn ($8bn) syndicated loan to finance AI computing infrastructure for Naver, in what would be South Korea’s largest syndicated loan, according to Private Equity Wire, citing a report by Bloomberg.
Syndicated loan mandate
KB Kookmin Bank was selected by Brookfield to lead the KRW10.7tn syndicated loan to finance AI computing infrastructure for Naver, according to Private Equity Wire.
The transaction is described as being poised to be South Korea’s largest syndicated loan, according to the same report.
Project scope and structure
The financing will support a KRW12.6tn project involving the purchase of graphics processing units and other computing infrastructure through a Brookfield-established special purpose company, according to Private Equity Wire.
The equipment is set to be leased to Naver Cloud under a long-term agreement, according to the report.
Pricing discussions and participating institutions
The loan could carry an interest rate in the high 5% range, although discussions remain ongoing and terms could change, according to the report.
Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank have confirmed their participation in the syndicated loan, according to the report.
NH Investment & Securities is also considering joining the transaction, according to the report.
Market positioning in Korea
The deal is described as South Korea’s first sizeable GPU financing, according to the report.
The report adds that banks and private credit managers are expanding their exposure to the hardware supporting AI infrastructure.
As widely known context, syndicated loans are typically arranged by one or more lead banks that coordinate commitments from multiple lenders.
As widely known context, graphics processing units are commonly used for AI model training and inference workloads.
