Bank of China participates in $633 million syndicated loan for construction of four 12,000 TEU and four 15,000 TEU vessels

On October 28, 2021, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that is wholly owned by Seaspan Corporation (a company that is incorporated under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands) signed a $633 million syndicated buyer’s credit agreement with HSBC, Citi, Bank of China, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank. HSBC also acted as the global coordinator, ECA agent, mandated lead arranger and bookrunner. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the loan is backed by a Sinosure credit insurance policy. The purpose of the project is to facilitate the construction of four 12,000 TEU and four 15,000 TEU vessels. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is the contractor responsible for the construction of the 8 vessels.

Additional details

1. The size of Bank of China’s financial contribution is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes equal contributions ($90,428,571) across the 7 known members of the lending syndicate. 2. The transaction has a JOLCO structure. A JOLCO is an operating lease for the purposes of accounting and tax, which gives the lessee an option to purchase the aircraft at the end of the lease, or at some point during the lease period, at the purchase price determined at the commencement of the lease. The transaction represented the first time an ECA had provided export credit insurance for a JOLCO transaction in the shipping sector.

Number of official sources

1

Number of total sources

6