ICBC restructures — via a one-year maturity extension — a $600 million USD USD loan to Zain KSA to refinance another loan for the acquisition of Huawei equipment (Linked to Record ID#97599)

Project narrative

On August 15, 2016, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) signed a $599,808,061.42 USD (SAR 2,249,280,230.33) (simplified as $600 million USD; SAR 2.25 billion) long-term commercial loan facility agreement with Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) — a Saudi Arabia-based telecommunications company — to refinance another loan for the acquisition of Huawei equipment. The loan carried an initial maturity period of two years and a final maturity date of August 15, 2018, that was extendable by one additional year. The loan was payable at maturity and interest was payable Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C.P. (Zain Group) and cross-charged back to Zain KSA. The loan was unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by Zain Group. This loan was subordinated to an existing Murabaha facility. Record ID#97599 captures the initial loan. The proceeds of this loan were used by Zain KSA to refinance a SAR 2.25 billion loan from four regional and local banks that originated in June 2016 and was intended to support the purchase of equipment from Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., only two months prior to the ICBC loan; Zain KSA stated that, because ICBC loan had better terms and was denominated in U.S. dollars, it would save SAR 175 million ($46.7 million USD) with the ICBC loan. The loan term began on August 29, 2016. As of December 31, 2016, the entire principal of the loan had been drawn down. On March 18, 2018, ICBC entered into an agreement with Zain KSA to exercise the maturity extension option; thus, the loan's maturity period was extended from two to three years and the new final maturity date was set to August 8, 2019. Record ID#97600 captures this maturity extension. On June 16, 2019, Zain KSA signed a SAR 2.25 billion Murabaha facility agreement amounting to SR 2.25 billion with a consortium of five regional and local banks to refinance the ICBC loan. Then, on July 3, 2019, Zain KSA fully repaid the $600 million USD loan from the proceeds of the Murabahah facility.