Skip to content
AidData logo

Overview

Bank of China contributes to a £100 million GBP revolving credit facility to facilitate the acquisition of PizzaExpress

Commitment Year•2014Country of Activity•United KingdomDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•British Virgin IslandsSector•Business And Other ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2014
Start (actual)
Aug 20, 2014
End (actual)
Aug 20, 2014

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • Crystal Bridge Developments Limited

Loan description

Bank of China contributes to a £100 million GBP revolving credit facility to facilitate the acquisition of PizzaExpress

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In 2014, a syndicate of banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a £100 million GBP revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with an unspecified borrower to facilitate the £900 million GBP ($1.54 billion USD) acquisition of PizzaExpress (Operations) Limited — a United Kingdom-based multinational pizza restaurant business — by Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital from global private equity firm Cinven Limited. BOC served as a mandated lead arranger of this RCF. Pizza Express sold £610 million GBP ($1 billion USD) in bond financing, consisting of £410 million GBP of seven-year secured bonds backed by pledged shares of Pizza Express and £200 million GBP of eight-year unsecured notes, after the completion of the acquisition in July 2014 to facilitate it. J.P. advised PizzaExpress on the financing and BOC was a co-manager on the bond financing and supported the bridge financing (the £100 million GBP RCF). The acquisition was completed on August 18, 2014, with British Virgins Island-incorporated company Crystal Bridge Developments Limited controlled by Hony Capital becoming its parent. This was the largest offshore acquisition ever by a Chinese private equity firm. At the time of the acquisition, Pizza Express had over 500 stores in the United Kingdom, 12 stores in Hong Kong, and nine stores in Shanghai.

Staff comments

1. The Chinese project title is 收购英国PizzaExpress MLA 1亿英镑RCF和高收益债券 or 弘毅收购英国PizzaExpress项目. 2. AidData assumes that, based on BOC's designation as a mandated lead arranger, that this RCF was a syndicated loan. However, the other lenders are unknown. "Patrick Bright, Partner, Global Finance" mentions that J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and BOC were involved in bridge and bond financing of the acquisition; the RCF may have been the referenced bridge financing. 3. The specific borrower is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that Crystal Bridge Developments Limited, the Hony Capital-controlled entity that acquired PizzaExpress, was the borrower. This issue merits further investigation.