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Overview

ICBC contributes to the $1.25 billion AUD of syndicated debt for AustralianSuper's acquisition of a 70% stake in Australian Tower Network (Linked to Record ID#93245)

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$78,788,588
Commitment Year•2021Country of Activity•AustraliaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•AustraliaSector•CommunicationsFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Oct 1, 2021
Start (actual)
Nov 1, 2021
End (actual)
Nov 1, 2021

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

  • BNP Paribas S.A.
  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) (CommBank)
  • HSBC Bank PLC
  • ING Bank N.V.
  • Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
  • National Australia Bank Limited (NAB)
  • Natixis
  • Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (OCBC Bank)
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

Loan description

2021 ICBC and Bank of China contributions to $1.25 billion AUD of syndicated debt for AustralianSuper's acquisition of a 70% stake in Australian Tower Network in Australia

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In October 2021, a syndicate of 11 banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into an agreement to provide $1.25 billion AUD in syndicated debt with Australian superannuation fund AustralianSuper to finance 65% of the cost of AustralianSuper's purchase of a 70% stake in Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel)'s mobile towers company Australian Tower Network (ATN). The $1.25 billion AUD in debt was divided into a three-year tranche and a five-year tranche. In addition to ICBC and BOC, the following banks contributed to this syndicated debt: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), HSBC Bank PLC, ING Bank N.V., BNP Paribas S.A., Natixis, Mizuho Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (OCBC), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). CBA and NAB were spearheaded the transaction. AustralianSuper and Singtel agreed to the acquisition on October 1, 2021, for a consideration of $1.9 billion AUD ($1.37 billion USD). The sale involved 2,312 mobile network towers and rooftop sites. AustralianSuper acquired the 70% stake in November 2021. Record ID#93245 captures BOC's contribution to this loan. Record ID#93246 captures ICBC's contribution to this loan.

Staff comments

1. The individual contribution of the 11 lenders to this $1.25 billion AUD syndicated loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of ICBC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($113,636,363.636 AUD) to the syndicated loan.