Bank of China contributes to a €6 billion EUR syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facility to Eni for its financial needs

Project narrative

On July 28, 2022, it was announced that a syndicate of 23 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a €6.0 billion EUR syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit line agreement with Eni S.p.A. — an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome, one of the "supermajor" oil companies of the world and listed on that the Borsa Italiana and the New York Stock Exchange, but via golden shares held by Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance (1.997% stake) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) (28.503% stake), is de facto controlled by the Italian Government — for its financial needs. This facility carried a maturity period of five years and a variable interest rate based on a floating rate plus a margin. As a sustainability-linked facility, this facility was linked to two targets of the borrower's "Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework" updated in May 2022, namely the Net Carbon Footprint Upstream (Scope 1 and 2) and installed capacity for the production of electricity from renewable sources. The borrower's performance against these two targets would be assessed, with achievement of each target (or failure to achieve) by the borrower leading to a margin and commitment fee ratchet (step up/step down) on the facility. The proceeds of the facility were to be used by the borrower to manage its financial needs and to improve its liquidity position. In addition to BOC, the following lenders contributed to the facility syndicate: Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB), Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (SCIB), UniCredit S.p.A., Intesa Sanpaolo S.P.A., HSBC Bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA), Banca Popolare Di Milano (Banco BPM) S.p.A., Bank of America, Barclays Bank Plc, Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB), BPER Banca S.p.A., Citigroup, Deutsche Bank AG, ING Bank N.V., J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Bank, SMBC Bank, Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), Standard Chartered Bank PLC, Bankinter, S.A., Mediobanca, and Morgan Stanley. CACIB, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, and Unicredit served as underwriters, global coordinators, bookrunners and sustainability coordinators. Intesa Sanpaolo served as bookrunner. HSBC served as mandated lead arranger. BBVA, Banco BPM, Bank of America, Barclays Bank, BayernLB, BPER Banca, Citi, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Bank, SMBC Bank, SocGen, and Standard Chartered served as lead arrangers. BOC, Bankinter, Mediobanca, and Morgan Stanley served as arrangers.