Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On October 22, 2019, it was announced that a syndicate of 14 banks — including the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — had entered into a $1 billion AUD syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) with Optus Finance Pty Limited — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) and a subsidiary of New South Wales-based mobile network operator Singtel Optus Pty Limited, which is wholly owned by state-owned Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) — for the Optus 2019 Refinancing Project. This RCF carried a maturity date of May 31, 2022 (a maturity period of approximately 2.610 years). Singtel Optus Pty Limited and some of its subsidiaries issued guarantees in support of this RCF. The proceeds of this RCF were to be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance an existing credit facility. Record ID#93336 captures BOC's contribution. On April 28, 2022, a syndicate of 12 banks — including the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a $1.400 billion AUD ($993.64 million USD) syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Optus Finance Pty Limited for the Optus 2022 Refinancing Project. This loan carried a maturity period of three years and a final maturity date of April 24, 2025. As a sustainability-linked facility, this RCF featured an interest rate margin determined, in part, by Optus' ability to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 25% (Scope 1 and 2 in tCO2e) by 2025 compared to a 2015 baseline. Singtel Optus Pty Limited and certain subsidiaries of it issued a guarantee in support of this loan. The proceeds of this RCF were to be used by the borrower to refinance its existing credit facilities and for general corporate purposes. Each lender, including BOC, contributed $116.67 million AUD ($82.80 million USD) to the loan syndicate. Record ID#101176 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), the Australia Branch of BNP Paribas S.A., the Sydney Branch of Citibank N.A., Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the Australia Branch of DBS Bank, the Sydney Branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (OCBC Bank), the Sydney Branch of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Westpac Banking Corporation.
Staff comments
1. Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly known as Singtel, is a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate and one of the four major telcos operating in the country. The company is the largest mobile network operator in Singapore with 4.1 million subscribers and through subsidiaries, has a combined mobile subscriber base of 640 million customers at the end of financial year 2017. Singtel provides ISP, IPTV (Singtel TV), mobile phone networks, and fixed line telephony services. Singtel owns shares in many regional operators, including full ownership of Australia's second largest telco Optus and 32.15% of Bharti Airtel, India's second largest carrier. Singtel controls significant market share in Australia and Singapore, with 82% of the fixed-line market, 47% of the mobile market and 43% of the broadband market in Singapore. Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, a Singaporean government-owned investment company, is the majority owner of Singtel, which is also listed on the Singapore Exchange. 2. In April 2017, a syndicate of 15 banks — including the Sydney Branch of BOC — signed a $1.5 billion AUD syndicated RCF with Optus Finance for refinancing and general corporate purposes (Record ID#93321). In October 2019, a syndicate of 14 banks — including the Sydney Branch of BOC — entered into a $1 billion AUD syndicated RCF with Optus Finance to refinance an existing credit facility and for general corporate purposes (Record ID#93336). in April 2022, a syndicate of 12 banks — including the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a $1.4 billion AUD syndicated RCF to refinance existing credit facilities and for general corporate purposes (Record ID#101176). Considering that the April 2017 RCF had a maturity period of three years (thus an approximate final maturity date in April 2020), AidData strongly suspects that the April 2017 RCF was refinanced by the October 2019 RCF. This issue merits further investigation. Considering the October 2019 RCF had a final maturity date in late May 2022, AidData has assessed that the April 2022 RCF refinanced the October 2019 and has treated them as such.