Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On August 9, 2010, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 16 lenders — including the Bank of China (BOC), China Development Bank (CDB), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC (Asia)) — entered into a $2.40994 billion USD ($2.62693 billion AUD) syndicated loan agreement with Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and joint venture of of BHP Billiton (through Hunter Valley Energy Coal), Centennial Coal, Donaldson Coal, Peabody Energy, Felix Resources (Yancoal) and Whitehaven Coal Ltd. — for the Second Phase of the Newcastle Coal Loader Expansion Project. This loan was divided into four tranches: a $1.900 billion USD ($2.07108 billion AUD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of six years and maturity date of August 9, 2016; a $32.16 million USD ($35.06 million AUD) letter of credit tranche with a maturity period of six years and maturity date of August 9, 2016; a $45.94 million USD ($50.08 million AUD) working capital tranche with a maturity period of six years and maturity date of August 9, 2016; and a $431.84 million USD ($470.72 million AUD) junior loan tranche with a maturity period of 12 years. BOC contributed $80.00 million USD ($87.20 million AUD), CDB contributed $40.00 million USD ($43.60 million AUD), and ICBC (Asia) contributed $40.00 million USD to the $1.900 billion USD six-year term loan tranche. Record ID#95687 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#95688 captures CDB's contribution. Record ID#95689 captures ICBC (Asia)'s contribution. All 16 lenders, including BOC, CDB, and ICBC (Asia) contributed $26.99 million USD ($29.42 million AUD) to the $431.84 million USD junior loan tranche. Record ID#95690 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#95691 captures CDB's contribution. Record ID#95692 captures ICBC (Asia)'s contribution. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower for refinancing purposes and to finance the expansion of Stage 2 of the third coal loader at the Port of Newcastle. The $900 million AUD expansion, which sought to lift the coal export terminal's capacity to 53 million tons per annum (Mtpa), began in August 2010. It was completed in June 2012. Then, on August 31, 2011, a syndicate of 15 lenders — including BOC, CDB, and ICBC (Asia)) — entered into a $2.94595 billion USD ($2.75532 billion AUD) syndicated loan loan agreement with Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) for the Newcastle Coal Export Terminal Stage 2F Project. This loan was divided into four tranches: a $1.04999 billion USD ($982.05 million AUD) term loan tranche; a $1.800 billion USD ($1.68352 billion AUD) term loan tranche; a $53.30 million USD ($49.85 million AUD revolver tranche; and a $42.66 million USD ($39.90 million AUD) revolver tranche. BOC contributed $11.00 million USD ($10.29 million AUD), CDB contributed $96.10 million USD ($89.88 million AUD), and ICBC (Asia) contributed $65.80 million USD ($61.54 million AUD) to the $1.049 billion USD term loan tranche. In addition to the three Chinese banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the $1.049 billion USD term loan tranche: United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) contributed $36.00 million USD ($33.67 million AUD), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) contributed $100.50 million USD ($94.00 million AUD), BHP Billiton contributed $304.72 million USD ($285.00 million AUD), Korea Development Bank (KDB) contributed $25.00 million USD ($23.38 million AUD), SMBC contributed $123.69 million USD ($115.69 million AUD), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (OCBC Bank) contributed $70.30 million USD ($65.75 million AUD), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) contributed $12.00 million USD ($11.22 million AUD), KfW contributed $41.20 million USD ($38.53 million AUD), Export Development Canada (EDC) contributed $40.89 million USD ($38.24 million AUD), Crédit Agricole Group ($87.49 million USD; $81.83 million AUD), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) contributed $31.50 million USD ($29.46 million AUD), and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) contributed $3.80 million USD ($3.55 million AUD). Record ID#95693 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#95694 captures CDB's contribution. Record ID#95695 captures ICBC (Asia)'s contribution. BOC contributed $78.40 million USD ($73.33 million AUD), CDB contributed $37.90 million USD ($35.45 million AUD), and ICBC (Asia) contributed $39.20 million USD ($36.66 million AUD) to the $1.8 billion USD term loan tranche. In addition to the three Chinese banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the $1.8 billion USD term loan tranche: ANZ ($219.20 million USD; $205.02 million AUD), CBA ($122.50 million USD; $114.57 million AUD), Crédit Agricole Group ($98.00 million USD; $91.66 million AUD), DBS Bank ($98.00 million USD), EDC ($93.10 million USD; $87.08 million AUD), KfW ($58.80 million USD; $55.00 million AUD), NAB ($98.00 million USD; $91.66 million AUD), OCBC Bank ($63.70 million USD; $59.58 million AUD), SMBC ($99.30 million USD; $92.87 million AUD), BTMU ($73.50 million USD; $68.74 million USD), UOB ($98.00 million USD), and BHP Billiton ($522.40 million USD; $488.60 million AUD). Record ID#95696 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#95697 captures CDB's contribution. Record ID#95698 captures ICBC (Asia)'s contribution. CBA and ANZ each contributed $26.65 million USD ($24.93 million AUD) to the $53.30 million USD revolver tranche. CBA and ANZ each contributed $21.33 million USD ($19.95 million AUD) to the $42.66 million USD revolver tranche. No Chinese banks participated in either tranche. The proceeds of this loan were used by the borrower for the $1 billion AUD Stage 2F Coal Terminal Expansion at the Port of Newcastle, which sought to construct a third berth (K10), fourth stacker reclaimer, additional conveyors, and a rail flyover to the west of the 136-hectare Kooragang Island site, increasing the coal export terminal's maximum throughput capacity from 53 Mtpa to 66 Mtpa. Heron Construction Co Ltd was contracted for early works and dredging. Implementation began in August 2011. It was completed in June 2013. Then, on July 4, 2017, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of nine lenders — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $633.82 million USD ($831.01 million AUD) syndicated loan agreement with Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) then owned by a joint venture of BHP (35% equity stake), Yancoal (27% equity stake), Peabody Energy (18% equity stake), Whitehaven Coal (11% equity stake), and Banpu (9% equity stake) — for the NCIG Coal Export Terminal 2017 Refinancing Project. This loan carried a maturity period of five years, a final maturity date of July 4, 2022, a commitment fee of 50 basis points (bps), and an interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 185 bps. The proceeds of this loan were used by the borrower to refinance $450 million USD of bank debt maturing in March 2018 for the NCIG Coal Export Terminal at the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales; due to lender demand, it was up-sized to refinance additional debt. ICBC contributed $50.00 million USD ($65.56 million AUD) to the loan syndicate. Record ID#95699 captures ICBC's contribution. Then, on July 18, 2018, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of eight banks — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)— entered into a $378.5 million USD syndicated loan agreement with Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Pty Ltd (NCIG) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) then owned by a joint venture of BHP (35% equity stake), Yancoal (27% equity stake), Peabody (14% equity stake), Whitehaven Coal (14.7% equity stake), and Centennial Coal (8.8% equity stake) — for the NCIG Coal Export Terminal 2018 Refinancing Project. The syndicated loan consisted of two term loan tranches: a $278.5 million USD term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a maturity date of July 18, 2023 and a $100 million USD term loan with a maturity period of 10 years and maturity date of July 18, 2028. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower for the refinancing of its debt. ICBC contributed $25 million USD to the $278.50 million USD term loan tranche. Record ID#95828 captures ICBC's contribution.
Staff comments
1. This project is also known as the Newcastle Coal Loader Expansion Project.