Bank of China contributes to a €2.5 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility to Veolia for general corporate and refinancing purposes (Linked to Record ID#102259 and #102260)

Project narrative

On April 7, 2011, a syndicate of 31 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a €2.500 billion EUR syndicated multicurrency revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Veolia Environnement S.A. — a French multinational company providing water management, waste management, and energy services listed on Euronext Paris — for general corporate and refinancing purposes. This loan, known as 'Facility A' as it was signed in conjunction with a related €500 million EUR loan known as 'Facility B', carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year extension options at each lender's option, a final maturity date of April 2016, and an interest rate based on a floating rate plus an initial margin of 0.50% per year that was provided by 31 banks. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes and refinancing purposes, namely refinancing Veolia's existing €4 billion EUR revolving facility from April 20, 2005. Record ID#102258 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: BNP Paribas S.A., HSBC France S.A., Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (SGCIB), Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB), Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), Deutsche Bank, ING Group N.V., Mizuho Corporate Bank (MHCB), Natixis, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Banco Santander S.A., Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), Barclays Bank Plc, Citibank, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, DnB NOR, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), UniCredit S.p.A., Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Nordea Bank, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), and Standard Chartered Bank PLC. BNP Paribas, HSBC France, and SGCIB served as coordinators and bookrunners. BTMU, BBVA, CACIB, CIC, Deutsche Bank, ING, MHCB, Natixis, and RBS served as bookrunners. Banco Santander and BAML served as senior mandated lead arrangers. BOC, Barclays, Citibank, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, DnB NOR, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan, RBC, SMBC, and UniCredit served as mandated lead arrangers. ANZ, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Nordea, SEB, and Standard Chartered served as arrangers. Syndication was launched on March 4, 2021 and closed oversubscribed over €5.2 billion EUR in commitments. In 2012, the lending syndicate — still including BOC — entered into an amendment agreement with the borrower for the RCF; in the amendment, the lending syndicate extended the maturity period of the RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of six years — to 2017, in line with the first extension option. Record ID#102259 captures BOC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. In the first half of 2013, the lending syndicate — still including BOC — entered into another amendment agreement with the borrower for the RCF; in the amendment, the lending syndicate extended the maturity period of the RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of seven years — to 2018, in line with the second extension option. Record ID#102260 captures BOC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. On November 6, 2015, a syndicate of 24 banks — including BOC and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a €3.000 billion EUR ($3.30903 billion USD) syndicated multicurrency RCF agreement with Veolia Environnement S.A. for refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year maturity extension options, and an initial final maturity date of November 2020. This loan was available for drawdown in British pound sterling, euros, U.S. dollars, Chinese yuan, and Eastern Europe currencies. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the €2.5 billion EUR RCF and the €500 million EUR RCF signed on April 7, 2011. Each lender, including BOC and ICBC, contributed €125.00 million EUR ($137.88 million USD) to the loan syndicate. Record ID#102254 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#102255 captures ICBC's contribution.