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Overview

Bank of China provides $116.6 million USD to a $1.16 billion USD syndicated loan to SSL Finance Inc. for the construction of Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge in Montreal

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$121,986,731
Commitment Year•2015Country of Activity•CanadaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•CanadaSector•Transport And StorageFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
May 25, 2015
Start (actual)
May 16, 2015
End (actual)
Jun 24, 2019

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

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
  • Caisse Centrale Desjardins du Quebec
  • HSBC Bank Canada
  • National Bank of Canada
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
  • The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. (BTM)
  • Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank Group)

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • SSL Finance Inc.

Loan description

Bank of China provides USD 116.6 million to a loan syndicate to SSL Finance Inc. for the construction of Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge in Montreal

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

Circa May 25, 2015, the Bank of China (BOC) entered into a short-term construction financing agreement with SSL Finance (Signature on the St. Lawrence Group), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created for the construction of Montreal's Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge, a replacement for the original Champlain Bridge. The loan's total value was $1.16 billion USD, of which BOC contributed $116.6 million USD. Other participants in the short-term loan syndicate were the National Bank of Canada, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the Bank of Nova Scotia, Caisse Centrale Desjardins du Quebec, Sumitomo Mitsui, HSBC Bank Canada, and Toronto-Dominion Bank. The bridge opened for traffic on June 24, 2019, after a 42 month construction period. It was one of the largest infrastructure projects ever built in North America.

Staff comments

1. There is a lack of official confirmation regarding the Bank of China's participation in the short-term loan syndicate. However, completion of the project indicates that the financing was successful.