Bank of China contributes $47.55 million USD to $475.05 million USD syndicated loan to Hartree Capital for the acquisition of PAA Natural Gas Storage Project (Linked to Record ID#105464)

Project narrative

On August 3, 2021, a syndicate of ten lenders — including Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $475.05 million USD facility with Hartree Natural Gas Storage, LLC — a Delaware-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Hartree Capital — for the acquisition of PAA Natural Gas Storage LP — Midstream Infrastructure Plains All American (PAA) Delaware-incorporated limited partnership for the acquisition and operation of natural gas storage. The credit facility carried a maturity of 3.5 years and a final maturity date of February 2, 2025. The following lenders contributed the following amounts: BOC ($47.55 million USD), ICBC ($47.55 million USD), Cadence Bank ($29.95 million USD), Deutsche Bank ($50 million USD), ING Bank ($50 million USD), Investec ($50 million USD), Mizuho Bank ($50 million USD), MUFG Bank ($50 million USD), Société Générale ($50 million USD), Wells Fargo ($50 million USD). BOC's contribution is captured by Record ID#105463 and ICBC's contribution is captured by Record ID#105464. The proceeds were to be used by Hartree Capital for the $850 million USD acquisition of PAA Natural Gas Storage. In addition to the $475.05 million USD syndicated loan, Hartree provided $375 million USD in equity. PAA Natural Gas Storage owns the Pine Prairie and Southern Pines natural gas storage facilities, which represent two of the highest performing natural gas storage facilities in the US. After the acquisition, Hartree noticed a discrepancy between Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) and Hyprotech Systems (Hysys) measurements at the Pine Prairie natural gas facility. Hartree was denied insurance, pursued legal action, and sold the assets in 2024.