China Construction Bank contributes to $575 million syndicated loan to Doha Bank for general corporate purposes (Linked to Record ID#98821, #98831)

Project narrative

On December 11, 2015, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) (#98821), China Construction Bank (CCB) (#98830), through its Dubai branch, and CMB Wing Lung Bank (#98831) each contributed an estimated $63.89 million to a $575 million syndicated senior unsecured term loan facility to Doha Bank for general corporate purposes. The loan had a maturity date of two years with a bullet repayment and an option to extend the loan by one year, which Doha Bank exercised with some lenders on January 9, 2018. The loan had a basic margin rate of 75bps plus LIBOR. However, banks contributing up to $49 million (presumably above some unknown amount) received 85bps plus LIBOR, and banks contributing over $49 million received 95bps plus LIBOR. The full lending syndicate included Bank of China (Hong Kong), China Construction Bank, Commerzbank, ING Bank, Mizuho Bank, and Wells Fargo acting as bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers (MLAs), ANZ Bank and CMB Wing Lung Bank as mandated lead arrangers (MLAs), and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ/'Commercial Bank') acting as lead arranger. Wells Fargo also acted as coordinator, documenter, and facility agent. Doha Bank originally sought a loan facility of $500 million. However, the offer received more demand than expected, and was oversubscribed up to $575 million. Due to regional dollar liquidity constraints at the time, Doha Bank chose to accept all offered funds. Then, on January 9, 2018, Doha Bank exercised the loan's one-year extension option. According to two sources familiar with the matter, the Chinese, Hong Kong, and Japanese banks involved in the original syndicate chose to withdraw, reducing the size of the loan facility to $400 million.