China Development Bank contributes $298 million to $745 million syndicated term loan to Guangdong Rising H.K. to finance the acquisition of all ordinary shares of PanAust Ltd. (Linked to Record ID#97867)

Project narrative

On March 28, 2015, Bank of China (BOC) and China Development Bank (CDB) executed a $745 million syndicated term loan agreement with Guangdong Rising H.K. (GRHK) to finance the company's acquisition of PanAust Limited. The Sydney Branch of Bank of China acted as an agent for the lenders. Bank of China contributed 60% of the monetary value of the loan ($447 million, as captured via Record ID#97867) and China Development Bank contributed the remaining 40% ($298 million, as captured via Record ID#97868). The facility was expected to provide financing to GRHK to facilitate its acquisition of all the ordinary shares of PanAust Limited, an Australia-incorporated mining company and copper and gold producer that owns the Phu Kham Copper-Gold Operation and the Ban Houayxai Gold-Silver Operation in Laos. More specifically, the loan proceeds were to be used to cover up to 85% of the aggregate acquisition price of the PanAust Limited shares to be acquired by GRHK, which were to be acquired at $1.71 AUD per share. At the time that the loan was issued, PanAust Limited also owned an 80% equity stake in the Frieda River Copper-Gold Project, an undeveloped copper and gold project on the border of the Sandaun and East Sepik provinces of Papua New Guinea and interests in Chile. On July 20, 2015, the acquisition process was completed and PanAust Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of GRHK, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Assets Management Co. Ltd.