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Overview

Bank of China contributes to a £425 million GBP syndicated revolving credit facility to Global Switch Holdings for unspecified purposes

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$116,525,644
Commitment Year2017Country of ActivityUnited KingdomDirect Recipient Country of IncorporationBritish Virgin IslandsSectorIndustry, Mining, ConstructionFlow TypeLoan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Feb 22, 2017
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Feb 21, 2021

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 ownershipAt least 25% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Barclays Bank PLC
  • Credit Suisse AG
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • HSBC Bank PLC

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Global Switch Holdings Limited

Loan description

Bank of China contributes to a £425 million GBP syndicated revolving credit facility to Global Switch Holdings for unspecified purposes

Interest typeUnknownMaturity4 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On or around February 22, 2017, a syndicate of five banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a £425 million GBP ($530 million USD) syndicated revolving credit facility agreement with Global Switch Holdings Limited — a British Virgin Islands-incorporated company that develops, owns, and operates large scale carrier and cloud neutral data centers in Europe and Asia-Pacific and is based in London, the United Kingdom — for unspecified purposes. This RCF carried a maturity period of four years with two one-year extension options. In addition to BOC, HSBC Bank, Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse AG, and Deutsche Bank AG. HSBC Bank served as agent and BOC served as mandated lead arranger.

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the five lenders to this £425 million GBP syndicated loan are unknown. Therefore, to estimate BOC's contribution, AidData assumes that each lender contributed equally (£85,000,000 GBP) to the loan syndicate. 2. In 2004, Aldersgate Investments Limited, an entity indirectly held by the Reuben Brothers, acquired an indirect interest in Global Switch Holdings Limited through its investment in, and subsequent purchase of, Chelsfield plc. Aldersgate Investments Limited subsequently acquired control of 100% of Global Switch Holdings Limited in May 2007. Then, on May 30, 2016, Suzhou Qingfeng Investment Management Co., Limited (蘇州卿峰 投資管理有限公司) and Elegant Jubilee Limited — a British Virgin Islands-incorporated special purpose vehicle wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzhou Qingfeng Investment Management Co., Limited, an onshore Chinese investment vehicle 34.25% controlled by private Chinese steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang — entered into a capital increase agreement, pursuant to which Suzhou Qingfeng Investment Management Co., Limited agreed to purchase a 51% equity stake in Global Switch Holdings Limited from Aldersgate Investments Limited via Elegant Jubilee Limited for a consideration of £2,341,935,900. On December 21, 2016, Elegant Jubilee Limited acquired a 49% equity stake in Global Switch Holdings Limited from Aldersgate Investments Limited for £2,262,740,000 GBP.