Bank of China contributes to a $5.5 billion USD syndicated loan to AT&T Inc. for general corporate purposes (Linked to Record ID#108005)

Project narrative

On April 6, 2020, a syndicate of 12 banks — including the New York Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) and the New York Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $5,500,000,000 USD syndicated term loan agreement with AT&T Inc. — a Delaware-incorporated American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in Dallas, Texas and listed on the New York Stock Exchange — for general corporate purposes. This term loan carried a maturity period of 269 days (0.737 years), with all principal due and payable at maturity (a grace period of 0.737 years). This term loan carried a variable interest rate, at the borrower's discretion, or an annual base rate (the highest of the prime rate quoted by The Wall Street Journal, 0.5% per annum above the Federal Funds Rate, one-month USD LIBOR plus 1.00%, or 0.00% plus a margin of 0.50% or LIBOR one a period of one, two, three, or six months plus a margin of 1.50%. The term loan carried a financial ratio covenant requiring AT&T to maintain, beginning in the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2020, a net debt-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) ratio of not more than 3.5 to 1 of: a) all items that would be treated under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) as indebtedness on AT&T's consolidated balance sheet to b) the net income of AT&T and its consolidated subsidiaries, determined on a consolidated basis for the four quarters then ended in accordance with GAAP, with adjustments. Events of default would result in the possibility of acceleration of required payment and increase the margin by 2.00% per annum. Record ID#108004 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#108005 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to BOC and ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Bank of America, N.A., Citibank, N.A., the New York Branch of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA), Goldman Sachs Bank USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), TD Bank, N.A., Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, and The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank). Bank of America served as the agent. BofA Securities, Inc. acted as global coordinator, joint bookrunner, and joint lead arranger. Citibank served as sole syndication agent, joint bookrunner, and joint lead arranger. The New York Branch of ICBC, the New York Branch of BBVA, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, RBC Capital Markets, SocGen, TD Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank served as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes. The term loan was fully drawn down on April 6, 2020 and then repaid and terminated in May 2020.