Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In June 2013, a syndicate of five banks — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of China (BOC) — signed a $165 million NZD ($131 million USD) syndicate credit facility with New Zealand telecommunications firm 2degrees to refinance its debt to Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and construct a 4G network. In addition to BOC and ICBC, the syndicate's members included ING Bank, Kiwibank Limited, and the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ). ING, ICBC, BOC, and Kiwibank contributed a collective $80 million NZD to the facility, while BNZ contributed $85 million NZD. BNZ also arranged the credit facility. The original loan commitment was upsized in March 2014 (by $15 million NZD), January 2015 (by $20 million NZD), and August 2015 (by $15 million NZD) to $200 million NZD. For BOC's contribution to this loan, see linked Record ID#91165; ICBC's contribution is captured by linked Record ID#92411. The majority of the loan proceeds — reportedly $120 million NZD — were intended to be used by 2degrees to repay a $100 million USD credit line from Huawei Technologies provided in 2011. This Huawei vendor financing loan is captured by linked Record ID#91236. The remaining proceeds of the loan — $45 million NZD — were to be used to finance the construction of a 4G long-term evolution (LTE) network for 2degrees. In August 2015, the bank syndicate — still including ICBC and BOC — signed an agreement to refinance a $200 million NZD credit facility with New Zealand telecommunications firm 2degrees. Bank of China's contribution is recorded in Record ID#92265 and ICBC's contribution is reocrded in Record ID#110922. In July 2017, the bank syndicate — still including ICBC and BOC — extended the maturity date of the facility from June 30, 2018 to January 5, 2019. This maturity extension is captured by linked Record ID#92266. In March 2018, the bank syndicate — still including ICBC and BOC — again extended the maturity date of the facility from January 2019 to January 2020; $10 million NZD retained a January 2019 maturity date. This maturity extension is captured by linked Record ID#92268. In July 2018, all amounts under the $200 million NZD were refinanced by a new bank facility; the participants in this new bank facility are unclear.
Staff comments
1. Two Degrees New Zealand Limited, trading as 2degrees, is a full-service telecommunications provider headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The company was founded in 2001, originally under the name NZ Communications, and later rebranded to 2degrees 2. The individual contribution of the 5 lenders to this $200 million NZD syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of BOC and ICBC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($40 million NZD) to the loan syndicate.