Bank of China contributes to a $450 million AUD syndicated loan to oOh!media Limited for the acquisition of Adshel and refinancing purposes (Linked to Record ID#94881)

Project narrative

In June 2018, a syndicate of six banks — including the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a $450 million AUD syndicated debt facility agreement with oOh!media Limited, an Australian outdoor advertising and media company. This facility carried a maturity period of three years, a final maturity date of September 28, 2021, and was secured by (i.e. collateralized against) the assets of oOh!media and its subsidiaries. oOh!media used the proceeds of this loan support its $442 million USD acquisition of Australian street furniture business Adshel, in the form of Australian company Adshel Street Furniture Pty Ltd and its New Zealand company Adshel New Zealand Limited, from HT&E Limited, as well to refinance existing debt. Record ID#94880 captures BOC's contribution. In addition to BOC, the following banks contributed to the loan syndicate: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation, ING Bank (Australia) Limited, National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). CBA and Westpac served as joint bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers. BOC, ING Bank Australia, NAB, and SMBC joined in syndication as arrangers. Previously, on April 11, 2018 oOh!media Limited had made a non-binding indicative to acquire Adshel Street Furniture Pty Ltd. from HT&E Limited. Then, on June 25, 2018, it entered into a binding agreement to purchase Adshel Street Furniture from HT&E Limited for a $570 million AUD consideration, via $450 million AUD in debt and approximately $329.9 million AUD in equity. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved the transaction on August 23, 2018. As of this date, the transaction was expected to be completed by the end of September 2018. oOh!media completed the acquisition on September 28, 2018. As of December 31, 2018, $410 million AUD had been drawn under this facility. In February 2019, oOh!media Limited entered into an arrangement to increase the $450 million AUD limit by $70 million AUD to $520 million AUD to provide additional financial capacity to the group. This up-sizing is captured by Record ID#94881. In December 2020, a syndicate of existing lenders entered into a three-year $350 million AUD syndicated debt facility with oOh!media, refinancing oOh!media's existing facility. It is unconfirmed whether BOC participated in this refinancing.