Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On July 27, 2018, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited (ICBC New Zealand; ICBC NZ), China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB), and seven additional banks signed a $818.1 million USD senior syndicated loan agreement with First Gas Holdings Limited (First Gas Holdings Ltd.) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that is owned by various funds and investors, primarily from Australia and Canada, and managed by Colonial First State Global Asset Managers (known outside of Australia as First State Investments) — for the Maui Pipeline Project. The loan was provided in two tranches, one with a final maturity date in July 2021 and the other with a final maturity date in July 2023. ICBC NZ and CCB each contributed $90.1 million USD to this syndicated loan. Record ID#91690 captures CCB's contribution and Record ID#91703 captures ICBC NZ's contribution. In addition to ICBC NZ and CCB, the following banks participated in this syndicated loan: Mizuho Financial Group (MHFG), MUFG Bank, Ltd., Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), National Australia Bank (NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation, Société Générale S.A., and RBC Capital Markets. On September 24, 2020, the senior syndicated loan was refinanced, although it is unclear whether ICBC NZ and CCB participated in this refinancing. On December 21, 2015, Odysseus Investments Limited (later renamed to First Gas Holdings Limited) agreed to purchase the Maui Gas Pipeline (Maui Pipeline) and associated assets from Maui Development Limited (MDL), which was owned by several companies referred to as the 'Maui Mining Companies': Shell New Zealand (84%, part of the United Kingdom's Royal Dutch Shell plc), OMV New Zealand (10%, part of Austria's OMV Aktiengesellschaft) and Todd Energy (6%, part of New Zealand's The Todd Corporation Limited). The purchase was for a consideration of $335 million NZD. The Overseas Investment Office of New Zealand (OIC) approved the investment on May 25, 2016. The acquisition was completed in June 2016. The purpose of this project was to support the Maui Pipeline, a gas transmission and distribution network on the North Island of New Zealand. The Maui Pipeline runs 299 kilometers from the Oaonui Production Station, south of New Plymouth, to the Huntly Power Station, south of Auckland. It began transmission in 1979. In 2015, the Maui Pipeline carried 142.7 petajoules (PJ) of gas from seven production stations. Over half of the gas in the pipeline goes to three consumer entities: the Huntly Power Station and the two methanol plants owned by Methanex. FirstGas also owns other gas transmission pipelines directly connected to the Maui Pipeline at 13 interconnection points that supply industrial plants, dairy factories, and power stations throughout the North Island. Gas transported through the pipeline also supply local low pressure distribution networks in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga, and other municipalities in the North Island, and thousands of residences and businesses. The Maui Pipeline operates under an Open Access regime, so any party seeking to transit gas through or connect to the pipeline can do so via terms and conditions in the Maui Pipeline Operating Cod; 12 different parties ship gas through the Maui Pipeline as of 2015.
Staff comments
1. Odysseus Investments Limited was incorporated under the Companies Act 1993 on October 23, 2015 and changed its name to First Gas Holdings Limited on March 18, 2016 (see "Certificate of Incorporation FIRST GAS HOLDINGS LIMITED 583551"). Then, on September 28, 2018, First Gas Holdings Limited and First Gas Midco Limited amalgamated to become First Gas Midco Limited (see "Certificate of Amalgamation FIRST GAS MIDCO LIMITED (5915889"). All assets and liabilities were transferred to Midco on amalgamation (see pg.11 of "First Gas Topco Limited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30 September 2018"). First Gas Midco Limited is, in turn, owned by First Gas TopCo, which is, in turn, majority owned (59.68%) by a Cayman Island entity with various offshore entities (Australian and Canadian) owning majority stakes (see pg.5 of "2.20 HYDROGEN’S ROLE IN DE-CARBONISATION"). 2. The Maui Pipeline accounts for over 78% of New Zealand's natural gas production. It is used for transporting gas from gas fields in Taranaki, New Zealand (see "Maui Development (Gas Pipeline) Overview"). 3. Some sources ("Maui Pipeline sold to First Gas Limited") describe the length of the pipeline as 307 kilometers. 4. "Banking on a good relationship", published in March 2017, mentions that ICBC NZ was involved in financing for a key gas transmission and distribution network on the North Island (referring the Maui Pipeline), well before this syndicated loan was committed to in July 2018, indicating that ICBC NZ had entered into some sort of financing arrangement before this syndicated loan was committed. This issue merits further investigation. 5. AidData has coded the project_status field to Completion as this loan was refinanced and thus the original financing has concluded.