Bank of China contributes to a €1.3 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility to Volvo Car AB for refinancing and general corporate purposes

Project narrative

On June 22, 2017, a syndicate of 22 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €1.3 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Volvo Car AB (publ) — a Swedish public limited liability company that and wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely Sweden Holdings AB, itself wholly-owned by Shanghai Geely Zhao Yuan International Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned (indirect) subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), a Chinese privately-owned multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou largely owned by Chinese entrepreneur Li Shufu that is the parent of Geely Automobile Holdings Limited, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong — for refinancing and general corporate purposes. Volvo Personvagnar AB (Volvo Car Corporation) — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volvo Car AB — issued a guarantee for this RCF. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes and refinancing existing indebtedness. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: BNP Paribas S.A., HSBC Bank, ING Group N.V., Nordea Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), Barclays Bank Plc, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, DNB Markets, Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Industrial Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Lloyds Bank PLC, Morgan Stanley, Banco Santander, S.A., Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), Standard Chartered Bank plc, Svenska Handelsbanken AB, and Swedbank AB. BNP Paribas, HSBC, ING, and Nordea served as coordinators. BOC, ANZ, BAML, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, DNB Markets, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs, Industrial Bank, JPMorgan, Lloyds Bank, Morgan Stanley, Santander, SEB, SocGen, Standard Chartered, Handelsbanken, and Swedbank served as bookrunners. As of November 9, 2017, the borrower had not drawn upon the RCF. In January 2021, a syndicate of 21 banks signed a €1.3 billion EUR sustainability-linked RCF with Volvo Car for refinancing purposes; the proceeds were used by the borrower to replace the €1.3 billion EUR RCF, which was undrawn. It is unclear whether BOC participated in this loan.