Bank of China contributes to a €4.5 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility to Nestlé for general corporate purposes (Linked to Record ID#105001)

Project narrative

In October 2022, a syndicate of 26 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €4.5 billion EUR syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Nestlé S.A. — a Swiss multinational food and drinking processing conglomerate and owner of brands such as Aero, Kit Kat, Rolo, Nespresso, Nescafé, and Nesquik — for general corporate purposes. This RCF carried a maturity period of five years with two one-year maturity extension options. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes. Record ID#105000 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Bank of America Corporation, Barclays Bank Plc, BNP Paribas S.A., Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Bank, ING Group N.V., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Mizuho Bank, RBC Capital Markets, Banco Santander, S.A., Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), UBS AG, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), Credit Suisse AG, Danske Bank A/S, DBS Bank Ltd., Dexia N.V./S.A., Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Standard Chartered Bank PLC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), TD Securities Inc., Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), and Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, JPMorgan, Mizuho, RBC Capital Markets, Santander, SocGen, and UBS served as bookrunners. BOC, ANZ, BBVA, Credit Suisse, Danske Bank, DBS, Dexia, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, SMBC, TD Securities, ZKB, and Intesa Sanpaolo served as mandated lead arrangers. Additionally, concurrent with the €4.5 billion EUR RCF, in October 2022, a syndicate of 24 banks — all lenders to the €4.5 billion EUR RCF except BOC and Intesa Sanpaolo, with the same syndicate roles — entered into a €6.5 billion EUR syndicated short-term RCF for general corporate purposes. In early October 2023, the lending syndicate — still including BOC — entered into an amendment agreement with the borrowers for the RCF; in the amendment agreement, the lenders extended the maturity period of the RCF by one year — for a new maturity period of six years — in line with the first extension option. Record ID#105001 captures BOC's contribution to the debt rescheduling. Then, in October 2023, a syndicate of 24 banks — including China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) — entered into a €6.5 billion EUR syndicated RCF with Nestlé S.A. for refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of 13 months (1.083 years) with two maturity extensions options, a 11-month extension option and a 12-month extension option. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the October 2022 €6.5 billion EUR. Record ID#105002 captures CCB's contribution. The lending syndicate and the roles were the same as in October 2022 except that Credit Suisse and Dexia departed the loan syndicate and CCB and Morgan Stanley joined to replace them, with BBVA stepped up its position from mandated lead arranger to bookrunner. Citigroup served as active bookrunner and the loan was oversubscribed in syndication.