China Construction Bank contributes to a £500 million GBP syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facility to Tritax Big Box REIT for refinancing and general corporate purposes (Linked to Record ID#101376)

Project narrative

In December 2017, a syndicate of seven lenders entered into a £350 million GBP syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Tritax Big Box REIT plc — a real estate investment trust focus on logistics in the United Kingdom that is part of Tritax Group — for refinancing purposes. The RCF carried an initial margin of five years with a two-year extension option and an interest rate based on LIBOR plus a margin of 1.10%. This RCF carried an uncommitted £200 million GBP accordion option. Both extension options were exercised by the borrower, pushing the final maturity to December 10, 2024. Then, in December 2022, via the accordion option, the eight-bank syndicate — including the newly-joined Bank of China (BOC) — up-sized the Tritax Big Box REIT RCF by £100 million GBP to £450 million GBP. The final maturity date remained December 10, 2024 (a maturity period of two years for BOC's contribution). Record ID#101378 captures BOC's contribution to the up-sized portion. Then, in October 2023, a syndicate of nine banks — including the London Branch of BOC and the London Branch of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) — signed a £500 million GBP syndicated sustainability-linked RCF with Tritax Big Box REIT plc for refinancing and general corporate purposes. This RCF carried a maturity period of five years with an extension option of two years with lenders' consent and borrower's request and an interest rate based on a floating rate with an opening margin of 120 basis points (bps). This RCF also carried an uncommitted £200 million GBP accordion option. This RCF was unsecured. As a sustainability-linked RCF, this RCF included four Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) against which the borrower's performance was measured: new developments with a minimum Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREAM) certification; a reduction in embodied carbon; a minimum biodiversity net gain within the development footprint; and an improvement on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) ratings across the portfolio. The margin of the RCF's interest rate would ratchet upward and downward depending on the borrower's performance on the KPIs. The proceeds were fully available for the general corporate purposes of the borrower and were used to refinance the existing £450 million GBP RCF that was maturing in December 2024. Record ID#101376 captures BOC London Branch's contribution. Record ID#101377 captures CCB London Branch's contribution. In addition to BOC and CCB, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: ABN AMRO BANK N.V., Barclays Bank PLC, the London Branch of BNP Paribas, S.A., the London Branch of JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB), SMBC Bank International PLC, and the London Branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited. Barclays Bank served as Agent and Documentation Coordinator. BNP Paribas London Branch and Santander CIB served as Joint Sustainability Coordinators.