Unatrac Holding, the distributor of Caterpillar equipment in eight mainly African countries, has signed a $700 million, three-year loan to fund operations and refinance existing debt, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Part of Egyptian conglomerate Mansour Group, Dubai-based Unatrac increased the size of the revolving credit facility from $600 million after receiving pledges from lenders worth double the target amount, it said.

Barclays, Citigroup and JP Morgan arranged the deal, which was joined by a dozen other banks during a marketing period for the firm's debut syndicated loan.

The loan pays an interest rate of 4 per cent over the London interbank offered rate (Libor), Nader Aboushadi, group corporate treasurer at Unatrac, said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters.

Unatrac operates Caterpillar dealerships in Russia, Ghana, Nigeria, Iraq, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Kenya and Uganda and has an annual turnover of $1.4 billion, according to a company profile. - Reuters