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Overview

China Construction Bank contributes to a $779 million NZD syndicated loan for the Ara Tūhono — Pūhoi to Warkworth PPP 2023 Refinancing Project (Linked to Record ID#104774)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$71,524,434
Commitment Year•2023Country of Activity•New ZealandDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•New ZealandSector•Transport And StorageFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Oct 24, 2023
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Oct 24, 2028

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

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The proceeds of this loan were used to refinance the Ara Tūhono - Pūhoi to Warkworth Motorway PPP Project which sought to design and construct a four-lane 18.5-kilometer section of road from Puhoi to Warkworth, from the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) at Johnstone's Hills tunnels to the south of the Kaipara Flats Road intersection in the north of Warkworth, as an extension of the existing State Highway 1 (SH 1). The motorway traversed to the west of SH 1 and bypassed Warkworth on its western side. More detailed locational information can be found at: https://nx2group.com/attachments/docs/updated-map-public-jul-2021.pdf. More detailed locational information can be found at https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/14122843

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)
  • CaixaBank, S.A. (Formerly Criteria CaixaCorp)
  • Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
  • HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)
  • Westpac Banking Corporation

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • China Bank of Communications (BoCom or BoComm)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • NX2, L.P. (Northern Express Group)

Loan description

October 2023 $779 million NZD syndicated loan for the Ara Tūhono — Pūhoi to Warkworth PPP 2023 Refinancing Project in New Zealand

Interest type•UnknownMaturity•5 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In early November 2016, a syndicate of five banks — including the Sydney Branch of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) — entered into a $600.5 million USD syndicated loan agreement with NX2, L.P. (or NX2 LP or Northern Express Group) — a New Zealand-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by — a New Zealand-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by Public Infrastructure Partners II LP (38.3% equity stake), Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) (38.3% equity stake), FBII (Puhoi) Limited (13.4% equity stake), and Acciona Concesiones P2W Investment Limited (10% equity stake) — for the Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth Public-Private Partnership (PPP Project. This loan carried a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date in November 2023. This loan was secured (i.e. collateralized). CCB contributed $120.1 million USD to this syndicated loan, as did the four other lenders. Record ID#71599 captures CCB's contribution. In addition to the Sydney Branch of CCB, the following lenders contributed to the loan: the Sydney Branch of United Overseas Bank (UOB), the Hong Kong Branch of DZ Bank AG, ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited, and Westpac New Zealand Limited. All lenders served as Mandated Lead Arrangers; ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited served as Facility Agent and Security Trustee. Then, on October 24, 2023, a syndicate of seven lenders — including the Bank of Communications and CCB — entered into a $779 million NZD (€430 million EUR) syndicated term loan agreement with NX2, L.P for the Ara Tūhono — Pūhoi to Warkworth PPP 2023 Refinancing Project. This loan carried a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of October 24, 2028. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the original $600.5 million USD loan that was maturing in November 2023. Record ID#104774 captures BoComm's contribution. Record ID#104775 captures CCB's contribution. In addition to BoComm and CCB, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), CaixaBank, S.A., Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), HSBC, and Westpac Banking Corporation. CaixaBank committed $80 million NZD (€45 million EUR) to the loan syndicate. This project sought to design and construct a four-lane 18.5-kilometer section of road from Puhoi to Warkworth, from the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) at Johnstone's Hills tunnels to the south of the Kaipara Flats Road intersection in the north of Warkworth, as an extension of the existing State Highway 1 (SH 1). The motorway traversed to the west of SH 1 and bypassed Warkworth on its western side. It was intended to be the first stage of an extension of SH1 from Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Wellsford (Ara Tūhono meaning ‘connecting pathway’).

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the six lenders to this $779 million NZD syndicated loan are unknown, except CaixaBank, which contributed $80 million NZD. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of BoComm and CCB by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($116,500,000 NZD) to the remaining $699 million NZD of the loan syndicate.