Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 12, 2014, CCCC International Holding Limited (CCCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC), entered into a Share Sale Agreement with Leighton Holdings Limited in which CCCI would acquire an 100% equity interest in the business and assets of John Holland Group Pty Ltd (JHG), Australian infrastructure construction company, from Leighton for a consideration of $1.15 billion AUD ($951 million USD). Between April 17 and 23, 2015, a syndicate of banks — including the Head Office of Bank of China (BOC), the Sydney Branch of BOC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK), and BOC International Holdings Limited (BOCI) — entered into a $1.1 billion USD billion bridge facility (loan) agreement with CCCI AUS Holding Limited — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by CCCI — to support CCCC's acquisition of the John Holland Group. CCCC provided a guarantee for this loan. Record ID #94700 captures the Bank of China Head Office's contribution. Record ID #109954 captures the Bank of China Sydney Branch's contribution. Record ID #94701 captures BOCHK's contributions. Record ID #94702 captures BOCI's contribution. In addition to the four BOC entities, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), HSBC Bank PLC, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) contributed to this syndicated loan. BOC, ANZ, HSBC, and BTMU served as joint bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers. Treasurer of Australia Joe Hockey MP approved the foreign investment on April 8, 2015, noting that CCCC's debarment by the World Bank in 2009 was considered and 'appropriate arrangements have been put in place to mitigate any concerns in relation to this issue'. The sale was completed on April 20, 2015.
Staff comments
1. AidData has interpreted the line that 'BOCHK, by collaborating with the Head Office, Sydney Branch and BOCI, provided China Communications Construction Company Limited ("CCCC") with a USD1.1 billion syndicated M&A loan...' on page 42 of "Corporate Social Responsibility Report of Bank of China Limited for 2015" as meaning that BOCHK, the BOC Head Office, the Sydney Branch, and BOCI, each contributed to this syndicated loan. Therefore, there are seven known lenders. The individual contributions of these seven lenders to this $1.1 billion USD syndicated loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of the BOC entities by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($157,142,857.143 USD) to the syndicated loan.