Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On November 23, 2016, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of six banks entered into a $1,724,381,000 AUD ($1.27957 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement with WCX M4 Finco Pty Ltd — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) responsible for raising external debt finance and wholly owned subsidiary of New South Wales government-owned Sydney Motorway Corporation Pty Limited (SMC) — for the WestConnex M4 Project. Then, on March 29, 2017, the lenders successfully syndicated the loan, bringing on two additional lenders — including the Bank of China (BOC). This syndicated loan was divided three tranches: a $924.38 million AUD ($685.94 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a maturity date of November 23, 2021; a $400.00 million AUD ($296.82 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of seven years and a maturity date of November 23, 2023; and a $400.00 million AUD revolver tranche with a maturity period of five years and a maturity date of November 23, 2021. This loan was secured and there was a security trustee. WCX M4 Finco on-lent the proceeds of the loan to WCX M4 Asset Trust — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly owned by SMC responsible for the financing, design, and construction of the project — on substantially the same terms as that of the senior debt facility. All post-syndication lenders (eight banks), including BOC, contributed approximately $165.3 million USD to the loan syndicate. Record ID#96827 captures BOC's contribution. Then, on August 31, 2018, the Sydney Transport Partners consortium signed a sale and purchase agreement agreement with the Government of New South Wales to acquire a 51% equity stake in state-owned Sydney Motorway Corporation Pty Limited (SMC), the owner of the WestConnex (WCX) Project, for a consideration of $9.3 billion AUD, as part of SMC's privatization. The Government of New South Wales would retain a 49% stake in SMC, which owns special purpose vehicle subsidiaries for each of the three stages of the WCX Project and holds the right to toll the motorway until 2060. The acquisition was expected to be completed in late September 2018. The $16.8 billion AUD WestConnex Project is a 33-kilometer tolled motorway in Sydney, New South Wales linking Sydney's west and southwest with its central business district and acting as a corridor to Sydney Airport and Port Botany. Then, on September 27, 2018, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 16 banks — including the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), BOC, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — provided a $1.12 billion AUD ($786.3 million USD) syndicated bridge loan facility to Sydney Transport Partners (STP) Finco Pty Ltd. — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and joint venture of Transurban Group (50% equity stake), AustralianSuper (20.5% equity stake), the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (20.5% equity stake), Tawreed Investment, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (9% equity stake) — to facilitate the STP consortium's acquisition of a 51% ownership stake in Sydney Motorway Corporation. This bridge facility carried a maturity period of three months (0.25 years) and a final maturity date of December 27, 2018. The proceeds of this facility were to be used to support the full upfront payment of the purchase price of the Sydney Motorway Corporation by the STP consortium. The lenders and borrower intended to enter into another larger, $4 billion AUD debt facility within in October or November 2018 to repay and replace the bridge facilit, refinance debt associated with the WestConnex M4 Project, the first stage of the WestConnex Project, and raise additional debt to rebalance the capital structure of Stage 1. Record ID#96861 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96862 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96863 captures ICBC's contribution. Additionally, each of the members of STP contributed equity for the acquisition: Transurban ($4.1 billion AUD), AustralianSuper ($1.7 billion AUD), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ($1.7 billion AUD), and Tawreed Investments ($700 million AUD). Then, in October 2018, a syndicate of 16 lenders — including ABC, BOC, and ICBC — entered into a $4 billion AUD ($2,903,830,000 USD) syndicated loan agreement with STP Finco Pty Ltd. — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) — for the WestConnex M4 2018 Refinancing Project and the WestConnex Privatization Refinancing Project. This loan was divided into four tranches, split evenly into $2 billion AUD of three-year debt and $2 billion AUD of five-year debt: a $1.362 billion AUD ($988.75 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of three years and a maturity date of September 27, 2021; a $1.362 billion AUD term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a maturity date of September 27, 2023; a $638.00 million AUD ($463.16 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of three years and a maturity date of September 27, 2021; and a $638.00 million AUD term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a maturity date of September 27, 2023. It carried an interest rate based on a floating rate plus a margin of 140 basis points (bps). The proceeds of this loan were used to refinance the debt accrued for WestConnex M4 Project and the $1.12 billion AUD syndicated bridge facility that partially funded the STP's consortium upfront acquisition payment. Specifically, the WestConnex M4 Project debt consisted of a November 2016 $1,724,381,000 AUD ($1.27957 billion USD) syndicated loan, of which BOC contributed approximately $165.3 million AUD towards. The WestConnex M4 Project, the first stage of the $16.8 billion AUD 33-kilometer long WestConnex motorway, sought to establish a toll road under a long-term concession. It was divided into two substages: the M4 Widening, which sought to widen a 7.5 kilometer section of the existing M4 Motorway from Parramatta to Homebush to four lanes (referred to as the M4 Widening); and M4 East, which sought to construct 6.5 kilometers of roadway, including, twin 5.5-kilometer long tunnels between Homebush and Haberfield via Concord, with room for future connection to the M4-M5 Link at the Wattle Street Interchange. ABC contributed $85.13 million AUD ($61.80 million USD), BOC contributed $103.85 million AUD ($75.39 million USD, and ICBC contributed $71.51 million AUD ($51.91 million USD) to the three-year $1.362 billion AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96864 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96865 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96866 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to the three Chinese banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts in the three-year $1.362 billion AUD tranche: Société Générale S.A. (SocGen) ($68.10 million AUD; $49.44 million USD), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) ($103.85 million AUD), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) ($85.13 million AUD), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) ($85.13 million AUD), Crédit Agricole Group ($51.07 million AUD; $37.07 million USD), Export Development Canada (EDC) ($103.85 million AUD), ING Bank (Australia) Limited ($73.20 million AUD; $53.14 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($42.56 million AUD; $30.90 million USD), Mizuho Bank ($102.15 million AUD; $74.16 million USD), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) ($103.85 million AUD), the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) ($102.15 million AUD), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) ($103.85 million AUD), and Westpac Banking Corporation ($76.61 million AUD; $55.62 million USD). ABC contributed $85.13 million AUD, BOC contributed $103.85 million AUD, and ICBC contributed $71.51 million AUD to the five-year $1.362 billion AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96867 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96868 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96869 captures ICBC's contribution. The breakdown of contributions for this tranche is the same as for the three-year $1.362 billion AUD term loan tranche. ABC contributed $39.86 million AUD ($28.94 million USD), BOC contributed $48.65 million AUD ($35.32 million USD), and ICBC contributed $33.50 million AUD ($24.32 million USD) to the three-year $638 million AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96870 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96871 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96872 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to the three Chinese banks, the following lenders contributed the respective amounts in the loan syndicate: SocGen ($31.90 million AUD; $23.16 million USD), ANZ ($48.65 million AUD), CBA ($39.88 million AUD; $28.95 million USD), CIBC ($39.86 million AUD), Crédit Agricole ($23.93 million AUD; $17.37 million USD), EDC ($48.65 million AUD), ING Bank (Australia) ($34.29 million AUD; $24.89 million USD), KEB Hana Bank ($19.94 million AUD; $14.48 million USD), Mizuho Bank ($47.85 million AUD; $34.74 million USD), NAB ($48.65 million AUD), Scotiabank ($47.85 million AUD), SMBC ($48.65 million AUD), and Westpac ($35.89 million AUD). ABC contributed $39.86 million AUD, BOC contributed $48.65 million AUD, and ICBC contributed $33.50 million AUD to the five-year $638 million AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96873 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96874 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96875 captures ICBC's contribution. The breakdown of contributions for this tranche is the same as for the five-year $638 million AUD term loan tranche. ABC, BOC, ANZ, and CBA served as mandated lead arrangers. ICBC, Crédit Agricole, CIBC, EDC, ING Australia, KEB Hana Bank, Mizuho Scotiabank, SocGen, Westpac, NAB, and SMBC served as participants. On December 11, 2020, a syndicate of 19 lenders — including ABC, BOC, the Bank of Communications (BoComm), and ICBC — entered into a $4.250 billion AUD ($3.21281 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement with WestConnex Finance Company Pty Limited — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and the financing vehicle of the WestConnex Group (WCX) owned by Sydney Motorway Corporation, itself jointly owned by the Government of New South Wales (49% equity stake) and the Sydney Transport Partners join venture (51% equity stake) — for the WestConnex M4 2020 Refinancing Project. This syndicated loan was divided into four tranches: a $1.000 billion AUD ($755.95 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of three years; a $1.200 billion AUD ($907.15 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years; a $800.00 million AUD ($604.76 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of seven years, and a $1.250 billion AUD ($944.94 million USD) bridge facility tranche with a maturity period of two years. Financial close was achieved on December 18, 2020. The proceeds of this syndicated loan were to be used by the borrower to refinance $4.0 billion AUD of existing bank debt facilities for the WestConnex M4 Project that were established when the Sydney Transport Partners acquired a 51% stake in WestConnex in 2018 and to help fund its associated transaction costs. ABC, BOC, BoComm, and ICBC contributed $52.43 million AUD ($39.64 million USD) each to the $1 billion AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96828 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96829 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96830 captures BoComm's contribution. Record ID#96831 captures ICBC's contribution. ABC, BOC, BoComm, and ICBC contributed $62.92 million AUD ($47.56 million USD) each to the $1.2 billion AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96832 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96833 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96834 captures BoComm's contribution. Record ID#96835 captures ICBC's contribution. ABC, BOC, BoComm, and ICBC contributed $41.86 million AUD ($31.65 million USD) each to the $800 million AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96836 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96837 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96838 captures BoComm's contribution. Record ID#96839 captures ICBC's contribution. ABC, BOC, BoComm, and ICBC contributed $69.44 million AUD ($52.50 million USD) each to the $1.25 billion AUD bridge facility tranche. Record ID#96840 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96841 captures BOC's contribution. Record ID#96842 captures BoComm's contribution. Record ID#96843 captures ICBC's contribution. Then, on August 8, 2022, financial close was reached a deal in which a syndicate of 11 lenders — including ABC and BOC — entered into a $1.7 billion AUD ($1.17897 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement with WestConnex Finance Company Pty Limited — now jointly owned by Transurban (50.0% equity stake), AustralianSuper (20.5% equity stake), Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (10.5% equity stake), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (10.0% equity stake), and Tawreed Investments (9.0% equity stake) — for the WestConnex M4 2022 Refinancing Project. This syndicated loan was divided into two tranches: a $900.00 million AUD ($624.16 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of four years and a maturity date of August 8, 2026 and a $800.00 million AUD ($554.81 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of seven years and a maturity date of August 8, 2029. The proceeds of this loan were used by the borrower to refinance the WestConnex toll road. ABC and BOC each contributed $60.00 million AUD ($41.61 million USD) to the $900 million AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96844 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96845 captures BOC's contribution. ABC and BOC each contributed $50.00 million AUD ($34.68 million USD) to the $800 million AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#96846 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#96847 captures BOC's contribution.