ICBC provides a €250 million EUR tranche to a €846 million EUR bridge loan to finance Jin Jiang International Holdings and SINO-CEE Fund's acquisition of Radisson Holdings, Inc. and Radisson Hospitality AB (Linked to Record ID#107810)

Project narrative

On August 9, 2018, Aplite Holdings AB — a Sweden-incorporated special purpose acquisition vehicle jointly owned by Jin Jiang International Holdings Co., Ltd., a Chinese state-owned hospitality and travel company that develops and manages hotels and is headquartered in Shanghai, China, and SINO-CEE Fund, a Luxembourg-incorporated Chinese private equity fund (minority shareholder) — entered into an agreement with Radisson Hospitality, Inc. — a hotel holding company, formerly known as Carlson Hotels, Inc., headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, wholly-owned by HNA Tourism Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese hospitality company and a division of HNA Group Co., Limited, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan — and HNA Sweden Hospitality Management AB — a Sweden-incorporated indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of HNA Tourism Group — to purchase a 100% equity stake in Radisson Holdings, Inc. — owner of Radisson Hospitality — for an unknown consideration and its owned 51.15% owned stake in Radisson Hospitality AB (publ) for kr35.00 SEK ($3.82 USD; €3.37 EUR) per share, or kr3 billion SEK ($339.3 million USD) if all shares were purchased as well as HNA Sweden's 18.5% stake in Radisson Hospitality AB. Aplite would acquire the shares in Radisson Hospitality AB (formerly Rezidor Hotel Group AB) from Radisson Hospitality, Inc. and HNA Sweden and then thereafter acquire 100% of Radisson Holdings, Inc.. Radisson Hospitality, Inc. owned 51.15% stake in Radisson Hospitality AB, the Sweden-incorporated listed subsidiary headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and traded on Nasdaq Stockholm. Together Radisson Hospitality, Inc. and Radisson Hospitality AB made up the Radisson Hotel Group (formerly Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group), one of the world's largest hotel groups (13th largest in the world, fourth largest hotel management group in Europe, that owned seven distinct hotel brands, such as Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, and Country Inn & Suites, and developed and managed over 1,400 hotels with 180,000 rooms. It had two operating entities in Europe and the United States. HNA sold Radisson as part of a wider pattern of selling assets to lower its debt levels, one of the highest in all of China. The entire sale was expected to cost at least $2 billion USD. The acquisition was expected to close by the end of 2018. The acquisition was completed on November 13, 2018, with Aplite Holdings AB acquiring 87,552,187 shares in Radisson Hospitality AB from Radisson Hospitality Inc., or 50.21% of the shares and votes in Radisson Hospitality AB. As a result of the acquisition, per Chapter 3, Section 1 of the Swedish Public Takeover Act, Aplite Holdings AB was obligated to either launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining outstanding shares in Radisson AB or sell down its ownership in Radisson AB below 30% within four weeks from the completion of the acquisition. Radisson AB's independent committee did not positively recommend the offer to the shareholders. As of February 5, 2019, Aplite Holdings announced that it had acquired 164,143,028 shares of Radisson, some 94.12% of the shares and votes. It then moved to privatize Radisson, with its stock delisted from the Nasdaq Stockholm on March 22, 2019. Circa March 2019, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) entered into a €846 million EUR ($935 million USD) dual-tranche acquisition bridge loan agreement with Aplite Holdings AB to finance its acquisition of Radisson Hospitality, Inc. This loan was divided into a €250,000,000 EUR tranche and €596,000,000 EUR tranche. Record ID#107804 captures the €250 million EUR tranche. Record ID#107810 captures the €596 million EUR tranche. Circa August 2019, a syndicate of 10 banks — including ICBC, the Bank of China (BOC), China Everbright Bank, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB), China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the Export-Import Bank of China, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB) — entered into a €800 million EUR syndicated multi-tranche loan agreement with Aplite Holdings AB for the Radisson Hotel Group Acquisition Refinancing Project. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the €846 million EUR loan from ICBC used to acquire the Radisson Hotel Group. Record ID#107813 captures ICBC's contribution. Record ID#107814 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#107815 captures China Everbright Bank's contribution. Record ID#107816 captures CCB's contribution. Record ID#107817 captures China Merchants Bank's contribution. Record ID#107818 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#107819 captures China Eximbank's contribution. Record ID#107820 captures SPDB's contribution. In addition to the eight Chinese state-owned lenders, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: DBS Bank and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB). ICBC lead the syndicate as sole global coordinator. ICBC, BOC, and China Everbright Bank served as mandated lead arrangers. In 2022, Aplite Holdings AB sold the franchise business, operations and intellectual property of Radisson Hotel Group Americas for approximately $675 million USD to Choice Hotel Group.