ICBC contributes $30.9 million to EUR 328 million syndicated loan for Kocaeli Health Campus Project

Project narrative

In March 2017, ICBC contributed EUR 30.9 million to a EUR 328 million syndicated loan to Kocaeli Hastane Yatirim ve Saglik Hizmetleri A.S. — a special purpose vehicle and a joint venture of Turkerler Insaat A.S. (Turkerler), GAMA Holding A.S. (GAMA), and GE Healthcare (GEHC) group company — for the Kocaeli Health Campus Project. Members of the lending syndicate include EBRD, EDC, ICBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, OPIC, UniCredit, and ICBC. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. The EUR 407,681,953 project is being implemented on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis and financed according to an 80:20 debt-to-equity ratio. Kocaeli Hastane Yatirim ve Saglik Hizmetleri A.S. was established by a consortium of private companies to design, build, finance, lease and operate the Kocaeli Hospital PPP in Izmit District of Kocaeli Province for an operation period of 25 years following a construction period of 3 years. Under the PPP structure of the project, the concessionaire (Kocaeli Hastane Yatirim ve Saglik Hizmetleri A.S.) is responsible for designing, building, financing, leasing, and operating the hospital facilities, while the provision of medical care and services remains the responsibility of Turkey’s Ministry of Health. The purpose of the Kocaeli Health Campus Project is to construct, equip, and managed a health campus that is comprised of 1,080 beds across several hospitals, namely general (980 beds), physiotherapy and rehabilitation (100 beds) and high security forensic psychiatric (100 beds). The project also involves a total car parking capacity of 3,140 and a trigeneration plant with an estimated maximum installed capacity of 7500 kVA that is geared to be partially self-sufficient for power generation. Kocaeli Integrated Health Campus is located in Gindogdu village in the Izmit District of Kocaeli Province. Access to the site is via the Trans-European Motorway that passes north of the site. The area of approximately 35.3 ha is state-owned land that has already been allocated to the Ministry of Health to develop the hospital campus. No private land acquisition is required. The project site is surrounded by residential areas Tavsantepe, Bekirdere, Gundogdu, and Yesilova. A foundation-laying ceremony for this project took place on May 20, 2015. On December 17, 2020, the law firm Freshfields advised the lenders of the Kocaeli Health Campus on restructuring financing for the project. This was due to an increase in costs and new regulations related to the Covid19 pandemic. The center was expected to open in November 2021. However, on Türkerler's website, they note that the hospital will be handed back to the Turkish Ministry of Health following a 2022 expected opening date.