Skip to content
AidData logo

Overview

Bank of Communications contributes to a $540 million AUD syndicated loan to EBOS Group to finance its acquisition of LifeHealthcare

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$29,528,723
Commitment Year•2022Country of Activity•AustraliaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•New ZealandSector•HealthFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
May 1, 2022
Start (actual)
May 31, 2022
End (actual)
May 31, 2022

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

Loading map…

The project involved a $540 million AUD syndicated loan to EBOS Group to finance its acquisition of LifeHealthcare. LifeHealthcare's headquarters are located in Macquarie Park, Sydney, Australia. More detailed locational information can be found at https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1094403787.

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • China Bank of Communications (BoCom or BoComm)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)
  • Citigroup Inc.
  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) (CommBank)
  • DBS Bank Ltd.
  • HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)
  • Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
  • MUFG Bank, Ltd. (Formerly Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU))
  • National Australia Bank Limited (NAB)
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
  • United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB)
  • Westpac Banking Corporation

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • EBOS Group Limited

Loan desecription

Bank of Communications contributions to a $540 million AUD syndicated loan to EBOS Group to finance its acquisition of LifeHealthcare

Interest rate (t₀)•2.94%Interest type•Variable Interest RateMaturity•3.5 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In early May 2022, a syndicate of 12 banks — including the Bank of Communications (BoComm) — entered into a $540 million AUD ($380 million USD) syndicated loan agreement with EBOS Group Limited — a New Zealand-incorporated marketer, wholesaler, and distribution of medical and pharmaceutical and animal care products dual listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the New Zealand Exchange — to finance its acquisition of LifeHealthcare. This loan was divided into two tranches: a term loan tranche with a maturity period of three years and an interest rate of BBSY plus a margin of 135 basis points (bps) and a term loan tranche with a maturity period of four years plus a margin of 150 bps. In addition to BoComm, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), HSBC, MUFG Bank, Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Westpac Banking Corporation, DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), and Citigroup. ANZ and NAB served as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. CBA, HSBC, MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC, and Westpac joined in syndication as mandated lead arrangers. DBS and UOB joined in syndication as lead arrangers. BoComm and Citigroup joined in syndication as arrangers. LifeHealthcare Group is an Australia-based independent medical devices distributor, consumables, capital equipment and in-house manufactured allograft material in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. In December 2021, EBOS Group entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of LifeHealthcare’s Australia and New Zealand subsidiaries and 51% of LifeHealthcare’s Asian subsidiary, Singapore-headquartered Transmedic, from funds advised by PEP and other minority holders for $1.167 billion AUD.

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the 12 lenders to this $540 million AUD syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, to estimate BoComm's contribution, AidData has assumed that each lender contributed equally ($45,000,000 AUD) to the loan syndicate. 2. It is unclear whether BoComm contributed to each tranche. AidData has assumed it has, and has coded the maturity and interest variables of this variable on the average of the maturity period of the two tranches {[(3 + 4) / 2] = 3.5 years} and an interest rate (assuming a 6-month BBSY, the average 6-month BBSY for May 2022 being 1.515%) {[(1.515% + 1.35%) + (1.515% + 1.50%)] / 2 = 2.94%}.