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Overview

ICBC contributes $73.33 million to $220 million syndicated loan with Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. to redeem corporate bonds

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$78,032,388
Commitment Year2017Country of ActivityArgentinaDirect Recipient Country of IncorporationArgentinaOverseas JurisdictionUnited Arab EmiratesSectorBanking And Financial ServicesFlow TypeLoan

Status

Project lifecycle

Implementation

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Oct 26, 2017
Last repayment
Oct 25, 2020

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

  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Citibank, N.A.
  • Itaú Unibanco S.A.

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. (TGN)

Implementing agencies

Private Sector

  • Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. (TGN)

Loan desecription

ICBC contribution of USD $73.33 million to USD $220 million syndicated loan with Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. to redeem corporate bonds

Grant element5.5584%Interest rate (t₀)5.56447%Interest typeVariable Interest RateMaturity3 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On October 26, 2017, Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. (TGN) signed a $220 million syndicated loan agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (Dubai Branch), Citibank N.A., and Itaú Unibanco S.A. (Nassau Branch). The loan carried a 3-year maturity an an annual interest rate of LIBOR plus a 4% margin. The company obtained this loan to redeem corporate bonds. Consequently, on November 13, 2017, TGN made an early redemption of all the corporate bonds outstanding at an incremental rate, and all its 5-year corporate bonds, for a total of $208.3 million (including principal and interest). The borrower made principal repayments worth $110 million and interest payments worth $14.6 million during calendar year 2019 and it planned to make two final principal repayments (each worth $55 million) in April 2020 and October 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, the loan’s outstanding amount (principal balance) was $110 million.

Staff comments

1. The respective financial contributions of ICBC, Citibank N.A., and Itaú Unibanco S.A. (Nassau Branch) are unknown, so AidData assumes equal contributions ($73.33 million) for the time being. 2. The China-Latin America Commercial Loans Tracker, which is produced by the Inter-American Dialogue, does not capture this ICBC loan. 3. Transportadora de Gas del Sur was established on December 28, 1992 after the privatization of the Argentine energy sector. It was part of Gas del Estado, a government regulated company divided later into Transportadora de Gas del Sur and Transportadora de Gas del Norte. Transportadora de Gas del Norte SA now operates two gas pipeline companies, connecting two major fields in northern and central western Argentina with distributors in the north and central regions of the country. It transports about one-third of the natural gas consumed in Argentina. 4. AidData has estimated the all-interest rate by adding 4% to the average 6-month LIBOR rate in October 2017 (1.542%).