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Overview

Bank of China contributes to a £1.1 billion GBP syndicated loan to Grosvenor Group for general corporate purposes

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$126,320,772
Commitment Year•2021Country of Activity•United KingdomDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•United KingdomOverseas Jurisdiction•United KingdomSector•Business And Other ServicesFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Commitment

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jun 1, 2021

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Bank of China (BOC)

Cofinancing agencies

Private Sector

  • Banco Santander, S.A. (Santander Group) (formerly Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A.)
  • Bank of East Asia Limited (BEA)
  • Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
  • BNP Paribas S.A.
  • Capital One, N.A.
  • Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC)
  • DBS Bank Ltd.
  • SMBC Bank International PLC (formerly Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (SMBCE))
  • Société Générale S.A. (SocGen or Societe Generale)

State-owned Banks

  • National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Grosvenor Group Limited

Loan description

Bank of China contributes to a £1.1 billion GBP syndicated loan to Grosvenor Group for general corporate purposes

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

in June 2021, a syndicate of 11 banks — including the London Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — signed a £1.1 billion GBP syndicated dual-tranche unsecured multi-currency revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Grosvenor Group Limited, a United Kingdom-based international property company owned by the Duke of Westminster and family, for general corporate purposes. The RCF included sustainability-linked Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that were unspecified at commitment, but to be developed and incorporated within 12 months. This proceeds of this RCF were to used by the borrower for general corporate purposes, with it providing medium-term committed back-up liquidity for it. The RCF replaced previously existing undrawn bilateral loan facilities. In addition to the London Branch of BOC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest), Banco Santander S.A., SMBC Bank International plc, the London Branch of the Bank of East Asia Limited (BEA), the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), BNP Paribas S.A., Capital One N.A., Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), the London Branch of DBS Bank Ltd., and Société Générale S.A. (SocGen). NatWest, Santander and SMBC Bank International served as facility co-ordinators and bookrunners. BOC, BEA, Scotiabank, BNP Paribas, Capital One, CIC, DBS, and SocGen served as mandated lead arrangers. The fact that the banking syndicate approved this sustainability-linked loan without the inclusion of KPIs at launch was criticized by the banking community as sickening. While Grosvenor had issued statements supporting zero-carbon goals for 2030 and had several sustainability related publications, it lacked the capability to produce annual sustainability reports necessary to set and test KPIs; still, it wanted to receive a sustainability-linked loan, and the lenders offered to sign the deal without KPIs at signing.

Staff comments

1. The individual contribution of the 11 lenders to this £1.1 billion GBP syndicated RCF is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of BOC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount (£100,000,000 GBP) to the syndicated loan.