Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On May 14, 2009, a syndicate of 32 banks — including the Macau Branch and the Sydney Branch of the Bank of China (BOC), the Singapore Branch of the Bank of Communications (BoComm), the Export-Import Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Seng Heng Bank Limited — signed a $700 million USD multi-currency syndicated bank debt (loan) facility agreement with Australian retail company Woolworths Limited. This loan carried a tenor (maturity) of three years, a maturity date of May 2012, and was divided into a $414 million USD term loan tranche and a $286 million USD revolver tranche, drawable in United States dollars, Australian dollars, and Japanese yen; the interest rate was dependable on the currency, with Australian dollar drawings carrying an interest rate of BBSW plus a margin of 220 basis points (bps), U.S. dollar drawings carrying an interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 220 bps, and Japanese yen drawings carrying an interest rate of yen LIBOR plus a margin of 220 bps. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower for general corporate purposes. BOC Macau contributed $33 million USD and BOC Sydney contributed $25 million USD. Record ID #96352 captures BOC Macau Branch's contribution. Record ID #109953 captures BOC Sydney Branch's contribution. BoComm contributed $8 million USD. Record ID #96353 captures BoComm's contribution. China Eximbank contributed $7 million USD. Record ID #96354 captures China Eximbank's contribution. ICBC contributed $41 million USD. Record ID #93315 captures ICBC's contribution. Seng Heng Bank Limited contributed $17 million USD. Record ID #96355 captures Seng Heng Bank's contribution. In addition to the four Chinese state-owned banks, the following banks contributed the respective amounts to the loan syndicate: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) ($41 million USD), Citi ($41 million USD), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) ($41 million USD), the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) ($41 million USD), DBS Bank ($41 million USD), Rabobank ($41 million USD), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) ($41 million USD), Bank of America ($45 million USD), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (Offshore) (HNCB) ($25 million USD), Intesa Sanpaolo S.P.A. ($25 million USD), Bank of Taiwan (Singapore) ($17 million USD), Chinatrust Commercial Bank ($17 million USD), Mega International Commercial Bank (Offshore) ($17 million USD), Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking ($15 million USD), Norinchukin Bank (Nochu Bank) ($13 million USD), Land Bank of Taiwan (Singapore) (LBOT) ($12 million USD), Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank ($11 million USD), Bank of Kaohsiung (Offshore) (BOK) ($8 million USD), Cathay United Bank (Singapore) ($8 million USD), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (Offshore) ($8 million USD), Industrial Bank of Taiwan ($8 million USD), Taishin International Bank (Offshore) ($8 million USD), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (Offshore) ($8 million USD), Yuanta Commercial Bank ($8 million USD), Bank SinoPac (Offshore) ($7 million USD), Chiba Bank (Hong Kong) ($5 million USD). There were 12 bookrunners. ANZ and Citi were the original mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, while the other bookrunners were BOC Macau, BOC Sydney, ICBC, Seng Heng Bank, DBS, Bank of America, Scotiabank, BTMU, Rabobank, and SMBC. Others lenders were participants. This facility was up-sized from $300 million USD in syndication. The term tranche of this facility was drawn down by the borrower in three tranches: a $263.6 million USD ($327.0 million AUD) tranche, a ¥1.9945 billion JPY ($25.8 million AUD) tranche, and a $178.5 million AUD tranche. In October 2011, Woolworths entered into $1.2 billion AUD syndicated revolving bank loan facility. The proceeds of this loan were used, among other things, to refinance and terminate the $700 million USD loan maturing in May 2012.
Staff comments
1. FinanceAsia's "Loan week, May 15-21" and GlobalCapital's "Australasian Syndicated Loans - news in brief, May 22, 2009" both feature lender-by-lender contribution breakdowns for this loan. However, GlobalCapital features more specific contributions (stating that China Eximbank contributed $6.5 million USD and and that Land Bank of Taiwan contributed $12.38 million USD), but it neglects to mention the presence of two BOC branches and of Seng Heng Bank, instead stating that BOC and ICBC each contributed $57.75 million USD. Seng Heng Bank, misspelled Seng Hang Bank in "Loan week, May 15-21", was, at the time, a subsidiary of ICBC and was merged into ICBC's Macau company later in 2009 , so it is possible that the BOC and ICBC contributions for GlobalCapital were combining the two BOC branches for the former and ICBC and Seng Heng Bank's contributions for the latter. 2. While a lender-by-lender contribution breakdown is known for the entire facility, the specific breakdown of lender to the tranches is unknown. For now, AidData has assumed that the lenders contributed equally to both. This issue merits further investigation. 3. AidData estimates the interest by assuming U.S. dollars were primarily drawn: AidData calculates the interest by taking the 6-month LIBOR rate at the time of the commitment plus the applicable margin (2.2%).