Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On May 9, 2019, financial close was announced on a deal in which a syndicate of 18 banks — including the New York Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) and the New York Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $2.6 billion USD syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Freepoint Commodities LLC — a Delaware-incorporated global physical commodities merchant headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut — for working capital and refinancing purposes. This loan was divided into two tranches: a $1.69 billion USD committed tranche with a maturity period of three years; and a $910 million USD uncommitted tranche with a maturity period of one years. This RCF carried a $600 million USD accordion feature. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance its existing 2018 RCF and for working capital purposes, namely the financing the physical merchant activities of the borrower's global commodities businesses. Record ID#105252 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#105253 captures ICBC's contribution. Then, on May 4, 2020, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 17 banks — including BOC NY Branch and ICBC NY Branch — entered into a $2.565 billion USD syndicated RCF agreement with Freepoint Commodities LLC for working capital and refinancing purposes. This loan was divided into two tranches: a $1,667,250,000 USD committed tranche with a maturity period of three years; and a $897,750,000 USD uncommitted tranche with a maturity period of one year. This RCF carried a $600 million USD accordion feature. The proceeds were to be used for refinancing the existing RCF and for working capital purposes. Record ID#105254 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#105255 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to BOC and ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: BNP Paribas Securities Corp. (BNPPSC), MUFG Bank, Ltd., the New York Branch of Natixis, ABN AMRO Capital USA LLC, the New York Branch of Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), ING Bank N.V., Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank PLC, UBS Switzerland AG, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB), the New York Branch of Deutsche Bank, the New York Agency of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and HSBC Bank USA, N.A.. BNPPSC, MUFG, and Natixis NY Branch served as Joint Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners. ABN AMRO Capital USA, Rabobank NY Branch, and SocGen served as Joint Lead Arrangers. BNPPSC served as Administrative Agent. ABN AMRO Capital USA, Rabobank NY Branch, ING Bank, and SocGen served as Co-Syndication and Co-Documentation Agents. Continuing participating lenders included: BOC NY Branch, ICBC NY Branch, CACIB, Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., Deutsche Bank NY Branch, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS Switzerland, the New York Agency of OCBC Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, and HSBC Bank USA. Then, on May 3, 2021, financial close was announced on a deal in which a syndicate of 18 banks — including BOC NY Branch and ICBC NY Branch — entered into a $2.63 billion USD syndicated RCF agreement Freepoint Commodities LLC for working capital and refinancing purposes. This RCF was divided into two tranches: a $1,709,500,000 USD committed tranche with a maturity period of three years and a $920,500,000 USD uncommitted tranche with a maturity period of one year. This RCF carried a $600 million USD accordion feature. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the 2020 RCF and its working capital purposes. Record ID#105256 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#105257 captures ICBC's contribution.
Staff comments
1. Freepoint Commodities LLC is based in Stamford, Connecticut with over 575 employees worldwide and founded in 2011. Freepoint Commodities LLC is a global commodities merchant of physical commodities providing customers with physical supply and logistics chain management and services, together with eco-friendly products and solutions. Freepoint trades oil and gas globally, including both physical and derivative oil products. 2. The individual contributions of the 17 lenders to this $2.565 billion USD syndicated revolving credit facility are unknown. AidData has assumed each lender contributed to each tranche, and AidData does not consider uncommitted loans to be flows. Therefore, for the time being, to estimate the contributions of BOC and ICBC to the $1,667,250,000 USD committed tranche, AidData has assumed each lender contributed equally ($98,073,529.4118 USD) to the tranche.