Bank of China contributes to SGD 670 million club loan to Mapletree Commercial Trust to partially finance the acquisition of Mapletree Business City Phase 2

Project narrative

In October 2019, a group of lenders consisting of DBC Bank, OCBC Bank, along with the Singapore branches of the Bank of China, Citibank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) entered into a club loan agreement with Mapletree Commercial Trust, a Singaporean real estate investment trust, worth SGD 670 million. DBC and OCBC were appointed green loan coordinators. Other details of the loan are unclear. The proceeds of the loan help finance the acquisition of Phase 2 of Mapletree Business City ("MBC II"). The loan is a green loan, one of several that have been agreed to in Singapore, owing to the fact that MBC II is a property designed with environmentally friendly features. The total acquisition cost of MBC II is SGD 1,575,800, which Mapletree intends to fund through a combination of debt and equity. MBC II is a property development consisting of four blocks of business park space, along with a common carpark, multi-purpose hall, retail area, and common property with the existing Mapletree Business City Development ("MBC I"), which is already owned by Mapletree Commercial Trust. According to a press release from Mapletree at the time of the agreement, the combined MBC property will form "one of the largest integrated office and business park developments in Singapore with Grade A building specifications." The property houses the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Google, along with other business; the property has an occupancy rate of 99.4%. The acquisition was completed on or around November 1, 2019.