Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On April 30, 2020, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 18 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €950.69 million EUR ($1.03248 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement with InfraChem Holdings S.à.r.l. — a Luxembourg-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 L.P. / Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 S.C.S.p. (MEIF5) (50% equity stake) and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 S.C.S.p. (MEIF6) (50% equity stake), two funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) — to support MIRA's acquisition of a 100% stake in Currenta Geschäftsführung-GmbH. This loan was divided four tranches: a €729.56 million EUR ($792.32 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of April 30, 2025; a €134.44 million EUR ($146.01 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of April 30, 2025; a €31.12 million EUR ($33.80 million USD) revolver tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of April 30, 2025; and a €55.57 million EUR ($60.35 million USD) credit facility tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of April 30, 2025 exclusively provided by Deutsche Bank. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance, alongside equity, its €1.8 billion EUR acquisition of a 100% stake in German chemical company Currenta. BOC contributed €60.54 million EUR ($67.75 million USD) to the €729.56 million EUR term loan tranche. Record ID#102289 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following (at least) 17 lenders contributed the respective amounts to the €729.56 million EUR term loan tranche: Allied Irish Banks p.l.c. (AIB) (€36.52 million EUR; $39.67 million USD), Banca IMI (€54.79 million EUR; $59.50 million USD), Barclays Bank Plc (€28.72 million EUR; $31.19 million USD), Crédit Agricole Group (€52.59 million EUR; $57.12 million USD), Deutsche Bank (€6.93 million EUR; $7.52 million USD), Hamburg Commercial Bank (HSOB) (€52.59 million EUR), HDI Global SE (HDI) (€42.12 million EUR; $45.75 million USD), JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. (€43.16 million EUR; $46.88 million USD), Kommunalkredit Austria (€62.74 million EUR; $68.14 million USD), Mediobanca (€18.27 million EUR; $19.84 million USD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. (€53.85 million EUR; $58.48 million USD), National Westminster Plc (NatWest) (€46.76 million EUR), Raiffeisen Bank (€25.57 million EUR; $27.77 million USD), Banco Santander S.A. (€52.59 million EUR), Siemens Bank GmbH (€21.91 million EUR; $23.80 million USD), Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) (€47.48 million EUR; $51.57 million USD), and at least one other unknown lender (€22.41 million EUR; $24.33 million USD). BOC contributed €11.16 million EUR ($12.12 million USD) to the €134.44 million EUR term loan tranche. Record ID#102291 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following 14 lenders contributed the respective amounts to the €134.44 million EUR term loan tranche: AIB (€6.73 million EUR; $7.31 million USD), Banca IMI (€10.09 million EUR; $10.96 million USD), Barclays (€5.79 million EUR; $6.29 million USD), Crédit Agricole (€9.69 million EUR; $10.52 million USD), Deutsche Bank (€2.85 million EUR; $3.10 million USD), HSOB (€9.69 million EUR), JPMorgan Chase (€17.77 million EUR; $19.30 million USD), Mediobanca (€3.36 million EUR; $3.65 million USD), MUFG (€10.85 million EUR; $11.79 million USD), NatWest (€19.24 million EUR; $20.90 million USD), Raiffeisen Bank (€4.71 million EUR; $5.12 million USD), Santander (€9.69 million EUR), Siemens Bank (€4.04 million EUR; $4.39 million USD), and SEB (€8.75 million EUR; $9.50 million USD). BOC did not contribute to the €31.12 million EUR revolver tranche, which was provided by AIB (€1.56 million EUR; $1.69 million USD), Banca IMI (€2.34 million EUR; $2.54 million USD), Barclays (€1.34 million EUR; $1.46 million USD), Crédit Agricole (€2.24 million EUR; $2.43 million USD), Deutsche Bank (€0.84 million EUR; $0.91 million USD), HSOB (€2.24 million EUR), JPMorgan Chase (€5.26 million EUR; $5.71 million USD), Mediobanca (€0.78 million EUR; $0.85 million USD), MUFG (€2.51 million EUR; $2.73 million USD), NatWest (€5.70 million EUR; $6.19 million USD), Raiffeisen Bank (€1.09 million EUR; $1.19 million USD), Santander (€2.24 million EUR), Siemens Bank (€0.93 million EUR; $1.01 million USD), and SEB (€2.03 million EUR; $2.20 million USD). Currenta Geschäftsführung-GmbH wholly owns Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG. Currenta was owned by Bayer AG (60% stake) and Lanxess AG (40% stake). Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG is a German chemical park operator that owns, manages, and operates three chemical manufacturing plants under the Chempark brand: Leverkusen, Dormagen, and Krefeld-Uerdingen. Currenta's business included the provision of site services, utility supply, and disposal and service provisions. As the operator of the Chempark sites, Currenta was responsible for the expansion of essential infrastructure at the sites, namely roads, pipelines, containment facilities, wharfage, lighting, security permieters, and rail sidings and for connecting clients to local authority to obtain permits and licenses. Currenta also had three hazardous waste disposal plants, steam- and electricity-producing assets, and waste treatment facilities. Lanxess and Covestro, a spin-off of Bayer, were important customers of Currenta. Currenta had a total enterprise value of €3.5 billion EUR before a €1.55 billion EUR deduction of net debt and pension obligations. In November 2018, Bayer put its 60% stake in Currenta on sale to repay debt from its acquisition of Monsanto. A number of bidders pursued the asset in the bidding process, with final bids due in January 2019. In March 2019, Bayer selected MIRA to enter into exclusive negotiations for Currenta. Concurrently with the bidding process, Lanxess began discussions to sell its 40% stake to MIRA. On August 6, 2019, MIRA entered into agreements with Bayer and Lanxess to acquire their 60% stake and their 40% stake, respectively, giving MIRA a 100% stake in Currenta, for an equity value of €1.95 billion EUR ($2.18 billion USD). Negotiations reportedly were elongated because of Currenta's pensions were partly unfunded and an allegation that future pension obligations were to be paid in cash during the acquisition. Bayer and Lanxess also signed long-term contracts to remain a customer of Currenta. The acquisition of the 60% stake held by Bayer held by the fourth quarter of 2019 and the acquisition of the 40% stake held by Lanxess held by the end of April 2020. The acquisition of Bayer's stake closed on December 2, 2019. The acquisition of Lanxess's stake closed on April 30, 2020.