Bank of China contributes to a $2.5 billion USD syndicated loan to Naspers Limited for general corporate purposes in April 2018 (Linked to Project ID#98758)

On April 10, 2018, a major South African internet and entertainment investment company Naspers Limited, also widely known as a major shareholder in Chinese technology and entertainment group Tencent Holdings Ltd., signed a $2.5 billion USD ‘5+1+1’ (seven) year syndicated Revolving Credit Facility (“RCF”) with a group of banks including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and three branches/subsidiaries of Bank of China (BOC) (Thai, Singapore, and Johannesburg). ICBC was a core lender. The Chinese banks provided 18% of the financing ($450 million USD) to the syndicated loan. AidData estimates that BOC contributed $225,000,000 (captured via Project ID#60241) and ICBC also contributed $225,000,000 (captured via Project ID#98758) to this syndicated loan. The purpose of the loan was for general corporate purposes and acquisitions. Citi acted as Coordinator, Bookrunner, Senior Mandated Lead Arranger, Documentation Agent, and Facility Agent. The following lenders participated in the syndicated loan: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Luxembourg Branch; BNP Paribas S.A., South Africa Branch; Citibank N.A., DIFC Branch; Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited; Barclays Bank PLC; Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A.; Goldman Sachs Bank USA; ING Bank, a Branch of ING-DiBa AG; Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, London Branch; JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch; Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.; UniCredit Bank Austria AG; Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited; Bank of China Limited, Singapore Branch; Bank of China Limited, Johannesburg Branch; Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Filiale Luxemburg; The Bank of East Asia, Limited, London Branch; and Standard Chartered Bank.

Additional details

1. Based in South Africa, Naspers is a global internet and entertainment group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Naspers put in place its initial corporate RCF in 2008, and it has been subsequently upsized and extended in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 to reflect its growing business. 2. Citi coordinated each of these financings. It is the company’s core liquidity facility for general corporate purposes and acquisitions. Since the facility was initially put in place in 2008, Naspers has grown from a predominantly South African based media and entertainment company into a global internet and entertainment group, with investments across the globe. Over the past 10 years the size of its listed investments has grown by approximately 40 times primarily driven by its successful investment in Chinese tech start-up Tencent. The refinancing was executed as an amendment & extension of Naspers’ existing $2.5 billion RCF. The document was amended to (among other things) give the company additional flexibility to monetise a larger portion of its listed investments. Citi together with BNP Paribas was appointed as Coordinating Bookrunner to lead the refinancing process of Naspers’ existing $2.5 billion RCF which was signed in November 2015. The syndication saw extremely strong support from a combination of existing and new banks, the bank market with books closing >$1.0 billion oversubscribed. 14 banks joined in syndication alongside Citi and BNP Paribas. Syndication was well supported also by 4 Chinese lenders that together provided 18% of total commitments. ICBC closely collaborated with Naspers and the Coordinators throughout the process and was invited to commit with a top ticket. As one of core lenders, ICBC anchored the transaction with a timely commitment. The financing closed shortly after Naspers’ $10.0 billion disposal of part of its 33% stake in Tencent. 3. The exact size of Bank of China and ICBC’s respective financial contributions to the $8 billion syndicated bridge loan are unknown, expect for the fact that both banks provided 18% of the syndicated loan ($450,000,000). For the time being, AidData assumes that the two Chinese banks contributed equal amounts ($225,000,000).

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