Bank of China contributes to a €1 billion EUR syndicated revolver loan to Merck KGaA for refinancing purposes

Project narrative

In early May 2005, a syndicate of 21 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a €1 billion EUR syndicated revolver loan agreement with Merck KGaA — a German chemical and pharmaceutical company — for refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of seven years and a final maturity date of 2012 and an interest rate based on EURIBOR plus a margin of 20 basis points (bps) for years one to five and then a margin of 22.5 bps thereafter. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance a €1 billion EUR loan signed in April 2003. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Deutsche Bank, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba), Société Générale Corporate & Investment Bank (SGCIB), ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Banque Générale du Luxembourg (BGL), Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), BNP Paribas S.A., Calyon, Citigroup, Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), WestLB AG, Banca di Roma S.p.A., BHF Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., LRP Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz, and UBS AG. Deutsche Bank served as facility agent. Deutsche Bank, Helaba, and SGCIB served as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. ABN AMRO, BBVA, BTMU, BGL, BayernLB, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Citigroup, CIC, Dresdner Kleinwort, LBBW, and WestLB served as arrangers. BOC, Banca di Roma, BHF Bank, Goldman Sachs, Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz, and UBS served as co-arrangers. The facility was oversubscribed during syndication but bank commitments were scaled back. As of December 31, 2005, the syndicated revolver had not been drawn down.