China Eximbank provides RMB 330 million loan to Zhejiang Wanfeng Technology Development to finance its acquisition of 100% equity stake in The Paslin Company

Project narrative

On March 21, 2016, the Export-Import Bank of China entered into a $100 million USD loan agreement with America Wanfeng Corporation — a Delaware-incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Wanfeng Technology Development Co., Ltd., a Chinese family-owned robotic manufacturer and systems integrator serving the die cast automation market headquartered in Xinchang — to finance its acquisition of a 100% equity stake in The Paslin Company (an American robotic equipment manufacturer). The loan carried a maturity period of 72 months (six years) and a fixed annual interest rate of 4.3%. The loan was disbursed on March 22, 2016. Record ID#109376 captures the $100 million USD loan. On March 21, 2016, China Eximbank entered into a RMB 330 million ($50,781,700,000 USD) loan agreement with Zhejiang Wanfeng Technology Development to finance its acquisition of 100% of the equity of Paslin. The loan carried a maturity period of 36 months (three years), a final maturity date of March 15, 2019, and a fixed annual interest rate of 2.65%. Record ID#109386 captures the RMB 330 million USD loan. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to finance its acquisition of 100% equity of Delaware-incorporated holding company T3 Paslin Holdco Inc., which wholly-owned T3 Paslin Inc., which wholly owned The Paslin Company and to pay the corresponding transaction fees for the seller and T3 Paslin Holdco, and to repay part of the debts of T3 Paslin Holdco and its subsidiaries ($9.4678 million USD in fees). The Paslin Company was full-service process, design and build organization that designs, assembles, and integrates automated and robotic assembly lines and welding systems for Tier 1 and automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customer. Paslin employed approximately 730 people. It was headquartered in Warren, Michigan with two different facilities and one in Shelby Township, with an aggregate of over 750,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Paslin's clients included Rivian, General Motors, Ford, Magna, and Montassa. On January 27, 2016, America Wanfeng Corporation signed an agreement and plan of merger with T3 Paslin Holdings LLC (a subsidiary of private equity firm Tower Three Partners) in which America Wanfeng Corporation would acquire T3 Paslin Holdco Inc. via a merger between it and Wanfeng Merger Corporation with T3 Paslin Holdco as the surviving corporation for a consideration of $260,951,600 USD, with a total value of $272,781,700 USD to pay fees and remain in America Wanfeng's accounts. The acquisition was expected to help internationalize Paslin and enhance Wanfeng's competitiveness in industrial robot system integration technology, becoming more competitive and allow it to enter into the entire vehicle manufacturing process that Wanfeng had not bee involved in. The acquisition was supported by the City of Shaoxing and Zhenjiang Province, with Shaoxing City providing RMB 300 million ($45 million UDS) to the Wanfeng Acquisition Fund, which was able to raise a total of RMB 1 billion ($151 million USD) from Wanfeng and other public and private companies, significantly reducing Wanfeng’s own capital contribution to the acquisition. The acquisition of Paslin and its robotics technology, was supportive of Shaoxing's policy directives to construct a new aircraft manufacturing hub, hence the government support. Within a year of the acquisition's completion, Wanfeng invested RMB 800 million ($118 million USD) to develop high-end robotics manufacturing based on Paslin's technology in Shaoxing. The acquisition was completed on March 24, 2016. Zhejiang Wanfeng fully repaid the RMB 330 million loan on its March 15, 2019 maturity. America Wanfeng fully repaid the outstanding balance of the $100 million USD loan ahead of schedule on February 8, 2021.