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Overview

Bank of China (Europe) Poland Branch contributes to a zł1.001 billion PLN syndicated loan to Eurocash for refinancing and general corporate purposes

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$29,779,493
Commitment Year•2023Country of Activity•PolandDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•PolandOverseas Jurisdiction•PolandSector•Business And Other ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jul 1, 2023

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 ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (Europe) S.A. (formerly Bank of China (Luxembourg) S.A. or BOC Luxembourg)

Cofinancing agencies

Intergovernmental Organizations

  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Private Sector

  • Alior Bank S.A.
  • Bank Ochrony Środowiska S.A. (BOŚ S.A.)
  • BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. (formerly Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BGŻ))
  • mBank S.A. (formerly BRE Bank)
  • Santander Bank Polska S.A. (formerly Bank Zachodni WBK S.A.)

State-owned Banks

  • Poland National Development Bank (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK))

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Eurocash S.A.

Loan description

Bank of China (Europe) Poland Branch contributes to a zł1.001 billion PLN syndicated loan for refinancing and general corporate purposes in Poland 2023

Interest type•UnknownMaturity•3.667 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In July 2023, a syndicate of eight banks — including the Bank of China (Europe) S.A. Spółka Akcyjna Oddział w Polsce (BOC (Europe)) (Poland Branch) — entered into a zł1.001 billion PLN (€220 million EUR) syndicated loan agreement with Eurocash S.A. — a Poland-incorporated fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributor and franchiser of retail and grocery stores headquartered in Komorniki and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with 44.04% of the company owned by Luxembourg-incorporated Politra B.V. S.A.R.L,. and England and Wales-incorporated Western Gate Private Investments Ltd., both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Amaral e Filhas Limited, an England and Wales-incorporated vehicle wholly-owned by Portuguese businessman Luis Amaral, who acts as the chairman of Eurocash's supervisory board — for refinancing and general corporate purposes. The loan was divided into three tranches: a zł456 million PLN (€102.4 million EUR) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years, a zł445 million PLN revolving loan tranche with a maturity period of three years with a two-year extension option, and a zł100 million PLN (€22.5 million EUR) current account overdraft credit facility tranche with a maturity period of three years with a two-year extension option. The facility had an incremental facility of zł199 million PLN available in the form of a term loan and revolving loan, taking the total facility to zł1.2 billion PLN The facility had a financial covenant that the borrower maintain a ratio of debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of no more than 3.5x. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance existing debt from loans and credits taken out in 2020 and to finance general corporate purposes, current working capital needs, and the development of franchise networks. In addition to BOC (Europe), the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Alior Bank S.A., Santander Bank Polska S.A., Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), Bank Ochrony Środowiska S.A., BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A., European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and mBank S.A..

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the eight lenders to this zł1.001 billion PLN syndicated facility are unknown. AidData has assumed each lender contributed to each tranche in this record. For the time being, AidData has estimated BOC (Europe)'s contribution by assuming each lender contributed equally (zł125,125,000 PLN) to the loan syndicate. 2. It is unclear whether Bank of China (Europe) contributed to each tranche. For the time being, AidData has assumed it had, but taken the average of the maturity periods of the tranches {[(5 + 3 + 3) / 3] = 3.667 years} and coded it as the maturity period of this record.