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Overview

Agricultural Bank of China contributes to a £400 million GBP syndicated loan for the 110 Bishopsgate Refinancing Project

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$36,813,852
Commitment Year2016Country of ActivityUnited KingdomDirect Recipient Country of IncorporationUnknownSectorBusiness And Other ServicesFlow TypeLoan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Dec 1, 2016
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Nov 30, 2021

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

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This loan supported the Heron Tower, also known as 110 Bishopsgate and Salesforce Tower, in London. It has 459,000 square feet of office space and has a height of 755 feet. More detailed locational information can be found at https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/96937598

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

  • Agricultural Bank of China (ABC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Limited
  • Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Ltd. (HNCB)
  • ING Bank N.V.
  • SBI Shinsei Bank, Limited
  • Unspecified German Bank
  • Unspecified Japanese Bank
  • Unspecified Korean Bank

State-owned Banks

  • Bank of Taiwan
  • Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • Consortium of Owners of Heron Tower (110 Bishopsgate)

Loan description

Agricultural Bank of China contributes to a £400 million GBP syndicated loan for the 110 Bishopsgate Refinancing Project

Interest typeUnknownMaturity5 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In April 2016, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) and ING Real Estate Finance signed a £400 million GBP loan agreement with a consortium consisting Heron International, State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), — Oman's sovereign wealth fund — and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd for the 110 Bishopsgate Refinancing Project. The consortium members are the owners of a London skyscraper, officially known as 110 Bishopsgate and Salesforce Tower, but unofficially known as the Heron Tower. The loan carried a maturity of five years and was senior debt, and its proceeds were to refinance the property (which has 459,000 square feet of office space and a height of 755 feet), namely a £288 million GBP loan from Starwood Capital provided in October 2013. Then, in December 2016, LBBW and ING syndicated £200 million GBP of the £400 million GBP syndicated loan to a group of eight banks — including the Agricultural Bank of China. In addition to the Agricultural Bank of China, the following institutions participated in £200 million GBP tranche syndicate: Bank of Taiwan, Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Ltd. (HNCB), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Limited, Shinsei Bank, an unspecified Japanese bank, an unspecified Korean bank, and an unspecified German bank. In March 2021, LBBW, ING, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Group (SMBC Group), and other banks provided a £400 million GBP loan to the consortium to refinance this loan.

Staff comments

1. The individual contributions of the eight lenders to this £200 million GBP tranche of £400 million GBP syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of Agricultural Bank of China by assuming that the eight lenders each contributed an equal amount (£25,000,000 GBP) to the loan syndicate.