Agricultural Bank of China (Luxembourg Branch) contributes to debt rescheduling — via a one-year maturity extension in 2020 — of a €1.2 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility to SES for general corporate and refinancing purposes

Project narrative

On January 14, 2014, it was announced that a syndicate of 20 banks — including the Bank of China (Luxembourg) S.A. (BOC Luxembourg)— signed a €1,200,000,000 EUR syndicated multi-currency revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with SES S.A. — a Betzdorf, Luxembourg-based and -incorporated satellite telecommunications network provider listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext Paris — for general corporate and refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year extension options at the discretion of the lenders, and an interest rate over EURIBOR or LIBOR plus an annual margin dependent on SES's credit rating (at the time of close, SES's rating of BBB / Baa 2 meant the margin was 45 basis points (bps) per annum). It had a facility expiry date of December 14, 2019. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes; the RCF replaced (refinanced) an existing syndicated loan. Record ID#103217 captures BOC Luxembourg's contribution. On December 23, 2014, the 20-lender syndicate — still including BOC Luxembourg — entered into an amendment agreement with the borrower; in the amendment agreement, the lenders extended the maturity period of the €1.2 billion EUR RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of six years — and set January 14, 2020 as the new final maturity date. Record ID#103393 captures BOC Luxembourg's contribution to this debt rescheduling. As of December 31, 2014, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. On November 13, 2015 and November 23, 2015, the 20-lender syndicate — still including BOC Luxembourg — entered into an another amendment agreement with the borrower; in the amendment agreement, the lenders extended the maturity period of the €1.2 billion EUR RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of seven years — and set January 13, 2021 as the new final maturity date. Record ID#103408 captures BOC Luxembourg's contribution to this debt rescheduling. As of December 31, 2015, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. As of December 31, 2016, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. As of December 31, 2017, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. As of December 31, 2018, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. In June 2019, a syndicate of 19 banks — including the Luxembourg Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and the Luxembourg Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — entered a €1,200,000,000 EUR syndicated multi-currency RCF with SES S.A. for general corporate and refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year extension options and an interest rate of EURIBOR plus an annual margin dependent on SES's credit rating (at the time of close, SES's rating of BBB / Baa 2 meant the margin was 40 bps per annum). The proceeds were to be used for general corporate purposes; this RCF replaced (refinanced) the 2014 €1.2 billion EUR RCF. Record ID#103219 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#103220 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to ABC and BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), Banque Et Caisse D'epargne De L'etat, Luxembourg, BNP Paribas Fortis S.A./N.V., the Luxembourg Branch of Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba), HSBC Bank PLC, ING Luxembourg S.A., the Amsterdam Branch of Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Luxembourg S.A., J.P. Morgan Securities PLC, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), Mizuho Bank Europe N.V., MUFG Bank, Ltd., NatWest Markets PLC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Société Générale S.A. (SocGen). BNP Paribas, the Luxembourg Branch of Commerzbank AG, Mizuho Bank Europe, and SocGen served as coordinators. This loan was significantly oversubscribed from its initial target. As of December 31, 2019, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. In 2020, the 19-lender syndicate — still including ABC and BOC — entered into an amendment agreement with the borrower; in the amendment agreement, the lenders extended the maturity period of the €1.2 billion EUR RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of six years — and set June 25, 2025 as the new final maturity date. Record ID#103431 captures ABC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. Record ID#103430 captures BOC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. As of December 31, 2020, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. In 2021, the 19-lender syndicate — still including ABC and BOC — entered into an another amendment agreement with the borrower; in the amendment agreement, the lenders extended the maturity period of the €1.2 billion EUR RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of seven years — and set June 26, 2026 as the new final maturity date. Record ID#103432 captures ABC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. Record ID#103434 captures BOC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. As of December 31, 2021, no amount had been drawn under this RCF. As of December 31, 2022, no amount had been drawn under this RCF.