Bank of China contributes to a €800 million EUR syndicated loan to Auchan to serve as a back-up line

Project narrative

On August 7, 2009, a syndicate of 18 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €800 million EUR syndicated loan agreement with Groupe Auchan S.A. — a French privately-owned multinational retail and supermarket group headquartered in Croix, France — to serve as a back-up line. This loan carried a maturity period of five years and an interest rate based on a floating rate plus a margin of 140 basis points (bps). The proceeds were to be used by the borrower as a new back-up line. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: HSBC Bank Plc, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., Natixis, Banco Santander S.A., BNP Paribas S.A., Calyon, Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), Deutsche Bank, Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), Banco Espírito Santo, S.A. (BES), Caisse d'Epargne Nord France Europe (CENFE), Citibank, Banque Commerciale du Marché Nord Europe (BCMNE), Unione di Banche Italiane S.p.A. (UBI Banca), Crédit Lyonnais, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid (Caja Madrid). HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, Natixis, and Santander served as the original mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. The remaining 14 lenders joined in syndication; BNP Paribas, Calyon, CIC, Deutsche, and SocGen joined as mandated lead arrangers, BES, CENFE, Citibank, BCMNE, UBI Banca, Crédit Lyonnais, RBS, and Caja Madrid joined as arrangers; and BOC joined as a participant. The loan was launched at €400 million EUR before receiving €1.3 billion EUR in commitments and being doubled to €800 million EUR after initial doubts that the low margin would make syndication difficult.