China Development Bank provides $203 million loan to Sinochem to fund its acquisition of Atlantis Holding Norway AS

Project narrative

On September 12, 2003, China Development Bank Corporation (CDB) signed a $230 million foreign exchange loan agreement with China National Chemicals Import & Export Corporation — soon thereafter renamed Sinochem Corporation, a Chinese state-owned oil, chemical, and agriculture company — to fund Sinochem Corporation's acquisition of Atlantis Holding Norway AS, an oil and gas exploration development company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Norway’s Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS) with assets in Oman, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, from PGS for $105 million. Sinochem sought a $413 million loan for the acquisition of Atlantic and for exploration and production from China's commercial banks, but was denied because the proposed debt-to-equity ratio was too high. Sinochem's application to CDB, however, was approved, for $230 million and a maturity period longer than the typical commercial loan. On January 22, 2022, Sinochem entered into an agreement with PGS to acquire Atlantis and assume $20.5 million of its short-term debt. In April 2022, Sinochem and PGS agreed to extend the closing date of the sale to June 28, 2002. The sale would allow PGS to complete its proposed merger with Veritas. The acquisition was completed on February 20, 2003, with $55 million of the transaction paid at completion and the other $50 million payable to PGS subject to the completion and terms of certain sales contract.