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Overview

ICBC contributes to a $308 million AUD syndicated loan to BlackRock Real Assets to finance its acquisition of a portfolio of childcare centers (Linked to Record ID#105590)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$33,684,617
Commitment Year•2022Country of Activity•AustraliaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•United StatesSector•Other Social Infrastructure And ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Apr 1, 2022
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Mar 31, 2027

Stakeholders

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

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • E.SUN Commercial Bank, Ltd.
  • National Australia Bank Limited (NAB)
  • RHB Bank Berhad
  • Standard Chartered Bank PLC

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • BlackRock Real Assets Inc.

Loan description

April 2022 $308 million AUD syndicated loan to BlackRock Real Assets to finance its acquisition of a portfolio of childcare centers in Australia

Interest type•Variable Interest RateMaturity•5 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In or around early April 2022, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of six banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $308 million AUD ($232 million USD) syndicated loan agreement with BlackRock Real Assets Inc. — the real assets arm of American private equity firm BlackRock, Inc. — to finance its acquisition of a portfolio of childcare centers. This loan carried a maturity period of five years, an interest rate of BBSY plus a margin in the low-to-mid 200 basis points (bps) range, and consisted of multiple tranches. Record ID#105590 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#105591 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to BOC and ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Standard Chartered Bank PLC, National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), RHB Bank Berhad, and E.SUN Commercial Bank, Ltd. Standard Chartered served as the sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner. NAB and RHB joined in general syndication as mandated lead arrangers. BOC, ICBC, and E.Sun Commercial joined in general syndication as lead arrangers. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for the acquisition of a portfolio of childcare centers in Australia; in October 2021, BlackRock Real Assets entered into an agreement with Sydney-based Federation Asset Management to form a $600 million AUD (€389 million EUR) joint venture, Federation Education Trust, to invest in childcare real estate in Australia, via the acquisition of Federation's existing portfolio, valued at around $200 million AUD, that would become the exclusive funder of new acquisitions and development of childcare centres.

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the six lenders to this $308 million AUD syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated BOC's and ICBC's contributions by assuming that each lender contributed equally ($51,333,333.3333 AUD) to the loan syndicate. 2. It is plausible, if not likely, that the specific borrower was a special purpose vehicle controlled by BlackRock Real Assets Inc. rather than it itself. This issue merits further investigation.