Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On October 24, 2015, CMB Financial Leasing (CMBFL), China Merchant Bank's (CMB) wholly-owned leasing subsidiary, provided two (2) debt facilities totaling $472 million to Golar LNG. The first facility (#99040), a term loan supporting the delivery of the newbuild FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit) Golar Tundra vessel, was sized at $216 million based on the cost of the vessel plus an addition $50 million in liquidity funds. The facility, funded on a charter free basis, had a maturity of 16 years (based on the reported amortization profile) and a maximum interest rate of 6%. In addition, the facility contained a stipulation that Golar LNG could draw down a further 10% in financing upon the signing of a long-term charter involving the FSRU Golar Tundra. Golar LNG signed a five (5) year charter with West Africa Gas Limited at some point before March 2016. Then, Golar LNG drew down a further $25.5 million from CMBFL's facility, bringing the total amount of reported debt to $222.7 million as of March 2016. The entire debt facility was novated to Golar Partners, the Golar LNG's owning company at the time, on May 23 when Golar Partners purchased the FSRU Golar Tundra from its subsidiary. The second facility (#99041), a refinancing loan supporting Golar LNG's liquidity position regarding the FSRU Golar Eskimo vessel, was sized at $256 million. $156 million was used to refinance the existing debt on the vessel and $100 million was used to repay the remaining balance on the vendor financing facility provided to the vessel's holding company by its parent corporation, Golar LNG. Both facilities together released approximately $150 million in cash for Golar LNG, used to improve the company's liquidity position.