China Construction Bank contributes $19.28 million AUD to the $242 million NZD green capex facility tranche of a $1.84886 billion AUD syndicated loan to finance QIC's acquisition of a 50% equity stake in Vector Metering Limited (Linked to Record ID#104929)

Project narrative

On June 21, 2023, a syndicate of 11 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB), and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $1.84886 billion AUD-equivalent ($1.22881 billion USD) syndicated dual-currency loan agreement with Para Finco Pty Limited — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly owned by QIC Private Capital Pty Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Queensland, Australia Government-owned QIC Limited — and Para Bidco Limited — a New Zealand-incorporated SPV wholly-owned by QIC Private Capital — to finance QIC's acquisition of a 50% equity stake in Vector Metering Limited. This loan was divided into six tranches: a $135.00 million AUD ($89.72 million USD) green term loan facility known as Facility A1; a $900 million NZD ($832.02 million AUD; $552.99 million USD) green term loan facility tranche known as Facility A2; $457.00 million AUD ($303.74 million SD) green capex facility tranche known as Facility B2; a $242 million NZD ($223.72 million AUD; $148.69 million USD) green capex facility tranche known as Facility B2; a $25.00 million AUD; $16.61 million USD) green revolving credit facility (RCF) tranche known as Facility C1; and a $25 million NZD ($23.11 million AUD; $15.36 million USD) green RCF tranche known as Facility C2. All six tranches carried a maturity period of five years, a final maturity date of June 30, 2028, and an interest rate based on BBSY (for AUD-denominated loans) or BKBM (for NZD-denominated loans) plus a margin of 195 basis points (bps). In total, the AUD-denominated portion of the loan was $617 million AUD and the NZD-denominated portion was $1.167 billion NZD ($1.078 billion AUD). BOC and CCB each contributed $10.33 million AUD ($6.86 million USD) and ICBC contributed $15.59 million AUD ($10.36 million USD) to the $135 million AUD green term loan facility tranche. Record ID#104920 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#104921 captures CCB's contribution. Record ID#104922 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to the Chinese state-owned banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the $135 million AUD green term loan facility tranche: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) ($11.62 million AUD; $7.72 million USD), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) ($14.06 million AUD; $9.34 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($3.85 million AUD; $2.56 million USD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. ($14.96 million AUD; $9.94 million USD), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) ($15.93 million AUD; $10.59 million USD), Société Générale S.A. (SocGen) ($8.90 million AUD; $5.92 million USD), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) ($11.62 million AUD; $7.72 million USD), and Westpac Banking Corporation ($17.81 million AUD; $11.84 million USD). BOC and CCB each contributed the NZD-equivalent of $68.38 million AUD ($45.45 million USD) and ICBC contributed the NZD-equivalent of $36.98 million AUD ($24.58 million USD) to the $900 million NZD green term loan facility tranche. Record ID#104923 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#104924 captures CCB's contribution. Record ID#104925 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to the Chinese state-owned banks, the following lenders contributed the NZD-equivalent respective amounts to the $900 million NZD green term loan facility tranche: CIBC ($76.70 million AUD; $50.98 million USD), CBA ($98.08 million AUD; $65.18 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($25.46 million AUD; $16.92 million USD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. ($99.03 million AUD; $65.82 million USD), NAB ($105.47 million AUD; $70.10 million USD), SocGen ($58.95 million AUD; $39.18 million USD), SMBC ($76.70 million AUD), and Westpac ($117.89 million AUD; $78.35 million USD). BOC and CCB contributed $34.97 million AUD ($23.24 million USD) and ICBC contributed $52.79 million AUD ($35.09 million USD) to the $457 million AUD green capex facility tranche. Record ID#104926 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#104927 captures CCB's contribution. Record ID#104928 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to the Chinese state-owned banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the $457 million AUD green capex facility tranche: CIBC ($39.32 million AUD; $26.13 million USD), CBA ($47.57 million AUD; $31.62 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($13.02 million AUD; $8.66 million USD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. ($50.65 million AUD; $33.66 million USD), NAB ($53.94 million AUD; $35.85 million USD), SocGen ($30.15 million AUD; $20.04 million USD), SMBC ($39.32 million AUD), and Westpac ($60.30 million AUD; $40.07 million USD). BOC and CCB each contributed the NZD-equivalent of $19.28 million AUD ($12.82 million USD) to the $242 million NZD green capex facility tranche. Record ID#104929 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#104930 captures CCB's contribution. In addition to the Chinese state-owned banks, the following lenders contributed the NZD-equivalent respective amounts to the $242 million NZD green capex facility tranche: CIBC ($21.67 million AUD; $14.40 million USD), CBA ($27.10 million AUD; $18.01 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($7.18 million AUD; $4.77 million USD), MUFG Bank ($27.93 million AUD; $18.56 million USD), NAB ($29.74 million AUD; $19.77 million USD), SocGen ($16.62 million AUD; $11.05 million USD), SMBC ($21.67 million AUD), and Westpac ($33.25 million AUD; $22.10 million USD). CBA and NAB were the sole lenders for the $25 million AUD green RCF tranche ($12.50 million AUD each; $8.31 million USD) and the $25 million NZD green RCF tranche (NZD-equivalent of $11.56 million AUD; $7.68 million USD). MUFG, NAB, and Westpac served as joint sustainability coordinators for the syndicate. The initial green limit of the debt accounted for over 90% of the entire loan, with electricity meters certified green under Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI)'s framework, while gas meters were not. The loan was aligned with the Climate Bonds' Electric Grids and Storage eligibility criteria. Financial close on the loan was reached on July 4, 2023. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to facilitate its purchase of a 50% equity stake in Vector Metering Limited, the smart metering business of New Zealand energy company Vector Limited. Specifically, the term loan tranches would be directly used to finance the acquisition, while the capex facilities would be used for Vector Metering's expansion and investments; QIC had an option to re-allocate the initial green and non-limits of the capex tranches to accommodate the business's needs, with the reallocation serving as a mechanism to adjust the amount of the loan permitted to be spent between electricity and gas meters. At the time of the acquisition, New Zealand-based Vector Metering provided energy and communication services to over 600,000 residential and commercial customers across the Pacific Islands and smart metering services across over 2.3 million meters in the electricity and gas markets of Australia and New Zealand. In the 2020/21 financial year, the smart metering business had operating earnings of $171.6 million NZD, making it Vector Limited's second biggest earner after electricity distribution. In April 2022, Vector Limited began a strategic review of its smart metering business. Then, in August 2022, it began a two-part auction for a significant stake in Vector Metering. In addition to QIC, Singapore's Keppel Limited and Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited bid for the stake. Then, in December 2022, QIC entered into a conditional agreement with Vector Limited to purchase a 50% stake in Vector Metering in a deal valuing it at $2.51 billion NZD ($1.54 billion USD). On April 4, 2023, QIC announced that it had signed the formal contract to purchase Vector Metering. The acquisition was completed on June 30, 2023. Vector Metering was renamed Bluecurrent after completion.