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Overview

Bank of China (Hong Kong) contributes to a £605 million GBP syndicated loan for the Leadenhall Building Acquisition Refinancing Project (Linked to Record ID#92236)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$117,628,822
Commitment Year•2022Country of Activity•United KingdomDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•BermudaOverseas Jurisdiction•Hong Kong (China)Sector•Business And Other ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jul 1, 2022

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

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This project supported the refinancing of a loan that supported C C Land Holdings Limited's acquisition of 46-story The Leadenhall Building in London, popularly known as the 'Cheesegrater'. More detailed locational information can be found at: The Leadenhall Building: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/309413981

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% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Bank of East Asia Limited (BEA)
  • Hang Seng Bank Limited
  • HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)
  • HSBC Bank PLC
  • UBS Group AG

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • C C Land Holdings Limited

Loan desecription

Bank of China (Hong Kong) contributes to a £605 million GBP syndicated loan for the Leadenhall Building Acquisition Refinancing Project

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On June 8, 2017, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of three banks — the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK), HSBC Bank plc, and ING Bank N.V. — entered into an approximately £630 million GBP syndicated loan agreement with C C Land Holdings Limited — a Hong Kong-listed Chinese real estate company — to support its acquisition of The Leadenhall Building in London, popularly known as the 'Cheesegrater'. This loan carried a maturity period of five years, an interest rate that was priced at around 150 basis points (bps), and a loan-to-value ratio of 55%. Each bank contributed equally to the syndicated loan, approximately £210 million GBP per lender. Each bank acted as a joint Mandated Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner, Joint Coordinator, and Joint Hedge Coordinator. Record ID#92236 captures BOC's contribution to this loan. C C Land Holdings Limited exchanged the contracts for the £1.15 billion GBP (€1.3 billion EUR) purchase of 46-story The Leadenhall Building from its owners, British Land and Oxford Properties, on March 1, 2017, pending final approval from C C Land's shareholders. The purchase was successfully completed in March 2017. This was the largest acquisition of a single building in the United Kingdom since December 2014 and the second largest acquisition of a British building ever. In July 2022, a syndicate of six lenders — including BOCHK — entered into a £605 million GBP ($716.82 million USD) syndicated loan with C C Land Holdings Limited for the Leadenhall Building Acquisition Refinancing Project. The proceeds of this loan were used by the borrower to refinance the £630 million GBP loan. In addition to BOCHK, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: HSBC's UK and Hong Kong arms, UBS AG, Hang Seng Bank, and the Bank of Asia (BEA) Limited. Record ID#92237 captures BOC's contribution to this refinancing.

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the six lenders to this £605 million GBP syndicated loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of BOCHK by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount (£100,833,333.333 GBP) to the loan syndicate.