Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In April 2017, a syndicate of 15 banks — including the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a $1.5 billion AUD ($1.6 billion SGD; $1.13 billion USD) syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) with Optus Finance Pty Limited — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) and a subsidiary of New South Wales-based mobile network operator Singtel Optus Pty Limited, which is wholly owned by state-owned Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) — for the Optus 2017 Refinancing Project. This RCF carried a maturity period of three years. Singtel Optus Pty Limited, some of its subsidiaries, and Singtel issued guarantees in support of this RCF. The proceeds of this RCF were to be used to refinance existing facilities and for general corporate purposes. In addition to the Sydney Branch of BOC, the following banks participated in this syndicated RCF: the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), the Australian Branch of Bank of America, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), the Sydney Branch of BNP Paribas S.A., the Sydney Branch of Citibank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the Australian Branch of DBS Bank Ltd, the Sydney Branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), Mizuho Bank, the Sydney Branch of Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC), the Singapore Branch of Standard Chartered Bank, the Sydney Branch of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), the Singapore Branch of Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), and Westpac Banking Corporation. This was the first instance of BOC participation in Optus' RCF syndicates.
Staff comments
1. The individual contributions of the 15 lenders to this approximately $1.5 billion AUD syndicated loan are unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of BOC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount ($100,000,000 AUD) to the syndicated loan. 2. In April 2017, a syndicate of 15 banks — including the Sydney Branch of BOC — signed a $1.5 billion AUD syndicated RCF with Optus Finance for refinancing and general corporate purposes (Record ID#93321). In October 2019, a syndicate of 14 banks — including the Sydney Branch of BOC — entered into a $1 billion AUD syndicated RCF with Optus Finance to refinance an existing credit facility and for general corporate purposes (Record ID#93336). in April 2022, a syndicate of 12 banks — including the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a $1.4 billion AUD syndicated RCF to refinance existing credit facilities and for general corporate purposes (Record ID#101176). Considering that the April 2017 RCF had a maturity period of three years (thus an approximate final maturity date in April 2020), AidData strongly suspects that the April 2017 RCF was refinanced by the October 2019 RCF. This issue merits further investigation. Considering the October 2019 RCF had a final maturity date in late May 2022, AidData has assessed that the April 2022 RCF refinanced the October 2019 and has treated them as such. 3. Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly known as Singtel, is a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate and one of the four major telcos operating in the country. The company is the largest mobile network operator in Singapore with 4.1 million subscribers and through subsidiaries, has a combined mobile subscriber base of 640 million customers at the end of financial year 2017. Singtel provides ISP, IPTV (Singtel TV), mobile phone networks, and fixed line telephony services. Singtel owns shares in many regional operators, including full ownership of Australia's second largest telco Optus and 32.15% of Bharti Airtel, India's second largest carrier. Singtel controls significant market share in Australia and Singapore, with 82% of the fixed-line market, 47% of the mobile market and 43% of the broadband market in Singapore. Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, a Singaporean government-owned investment company, is the majority owner of Singtel, which is also listed on the Singapore Exchange.