National Express Group bilateral SONIA loan facility

Overview:

• National Express Group has taken out a bilateral SONIA loan facility from NatWest.
• The deal is the first UK corporate loan to use SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) an overnight interest rate paid by banks for unsecured transactions in the British sterling market.
• It is being used as a new reference point as banks pivot away from LIBOR.
• The revolving credit facility represents the first in a pilot scheme run by NatWest to offer SONIA loans to corporate customers.
• According to the FT, global regulators intend to move markets off of LIBOR by the end of 2021.
• National Express is a bus, coach and rail operator that undertook nearly 900 million journeys in 2018.

Sam Duke