Bank of China contributes to debt rescheduling — via a two-year maturity extension — of a €750 million EUR syndicated sustainability-linked loan to Dürr for refinancing and general corporate purposes (Linked to Record ID#103823)

Project narrative

On July 25, 2019, a syndicate of 13 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €750,000,000 EUR ($840 million USD) sustainability-linked syndicated loan agreement with Dürr AG — a Germany-incorporated and headquartered mechanical and plant engineering firm listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange — for refinancing and general corporate purposes. This loan was divided into a €500 million EUR cash credit line tranche and a €250 million EUR guarantee line tranche. This loan carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year extension options with lender's consent, a final maturity date of July 25, 2024, and an interest rate based on a rate plus a variable margin. This loan was unsecured. As a sustainability-linked loan, the loan featured sustainability criteria created by EcoVadis including carbon dioxide emissions, water consumption, fair working relationships, and conditions at suppliers, against which the borrower's performance was assessed; based on this performance, the interest rate would ratchet positively or negatively. The loan came into force on August 7, 2019. The proceeds of the €500 million EUR cash credit line tranche were to be used for general corporate purposes and the proceeds of the €250 million EUR guarantee line tranche were to be used to secure standard obligations from mechanical and plant engineering to third parties; the borrower used the proceeds on August 7, 2019 to repay a €465 million EUR syndicated loan arranged in 2024 and due in 2021 without any prepayment fees. Record ID#103823 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: BNP Paribas S.A., Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, UniCredit Bank AG, DZ Bank AG, HSBC Bank PLC, ING Group N.V., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), Mizuho Bank, and Banco Santander S.A. BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, and UniCredit were the coordinators. Syndication was digitized via blockchain technology as a pilot. In July 2021, the lending syndicate entered into an amendment agreement with the borrower; in this amendment, the lenders extended the maturity period of the loan by two years — for a new maturity period of seven years — for a new final maturity date of July 2026, in line with the extension options in the loan agreement. Record ID#103824 captures BOC's contribution to this debt rescheduling. In December 2023, a syndicate of 12 banks entered into an amendment agreement with the borrower; in this amendment, the lenders up-sized the loan by €500,000,000 EUR (each tranche increased by €250 million EUR) and the extended the maturity period by 2.5 years — for a new maturity period of 9.5 years — for a new final maturity date of December 2028. It is unclear whether BOC remained a lender for this up-sizing and amendment.