Mexican Glassmaker Gets Foreign Loan : Finance: Just one U.S. firm is participating in the $126-million Vitro deal.

In the largest new commercial bank loan to a Mexican company since the Third World debt crisis began eight years ago, 16 international banks and an arm of the World Bank agreed this week to lend glassmaking giant Vitro $126 million for up to 10 years.

In addition, the International Finance Corp., the World Bank unit that extends credit to private companies, said it will invest $10 million in the company’s stock.

The loan and new stock issue are expected to cover most of the $150-million cost of a new plant, which will double Vitro’s production of glass for the automotive, construction and furniture industries. Plant construction in this city in northeastern Mexico is scheduled to take two years.

Vitro is Mexico’s largest glassmaker, with 1989 revenue of $1.7 billion, and owns Anchor Glass, a major U.S. bottle maker. From its Monterrey plant, Vitro also supplies about 8% of the glass used in the windshields and windows of U.S.-made cars.

Ernesto Martens, Vitro president, said the expansion is needed to keep up with growing demand and would not have been possible without the international loan. Long-term credit is virtually unavailable in Mexico, and interest rates on short-term credit are 35% or more annually.

Already among the strongest companies on the Mexican Stock Exchange, the corporation is considered a likely candidate to begin trading on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts, the equivalent of shares for foreign corporations.

The loan was made to Vitro’s flat-glass production company, Vitro Flotado, which is 35% owned by Pilkington PLC of Britain.

The banks agreed to lend Vitro the money at a favorable interest rate of 2 percentage points over the London Interbank Rate.

The International Finance Corp., which organized the loan, will supply $25 million. The rest of the borrowed money will come from 15 European banks and First City Texas-Houston.

In the last eight years, U.S. banks have set up reserves and written off billions of dollars in Latin American debt, contributing to large losses.