Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On May 14, 2013, a syndicate of 11 banks — including the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — signed a £700.0 million GBP syndicated revolving credit facility (RCF) agreement with Barratt Developments PLC — a British residential property developer and homebuilder — for refinancing purposes. This loan carried a maturity period of five years, though £150 million GBP would mature on June 30, 2016 while the remaining £550.0 million GBP would mature on May 14, 2018. Record ID#99135 captures ABC's contribution. Record ID#99136 captures ICBC's contribution. In addition to ABC and ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the loan syndicate: Barclays Bank, HSBC Bank, Lloyds Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Banco Santander, Allied Irish Banks (AIB), Bank of Taiwan, First Commercial Bank, and Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank). Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and RBS served as bookrunners. Santander served as lead arranger. ABC, ICBC, AIB, Bank of Taiwan, First Commercial Bank, and Maybank served as arrangers. Lloyds Bank served as facility agent. As of June 30, 2013, no funds had been drawn down under this RCF. As of June 30, 2014, no funds had been drawn down under this RCF. On December 17, 2014, the lending syndicate signed an amendment agreement for the £700 million GBP RCF with Barratt Developments. As a result of this amendment agreement, the final maturity date was extended from May 14, 2018 to December 17, 2019 — a new maturity period of 6.583 years — and the £150 million GBP's portion's maturity date was extended from June 30, 2016 to December 29, 2017. Projects ID#99137 and #110881 capture this extension. As of June 30, 2015, no funds had been drawn down under this RCF. The RCF was again amended on June 30, 2016. As of June 30, 2016, no funds had been drawn down under this RCF. Then, on December 29, 2016, the lending syndicate signed an another amendment agreement for the £700 million GBP RCF with Barratt Developments. As a result of this amendment agreement, the final maturity date date was extended from December 17, 2019 to December 29, 2021 — a new maturity period of 8.583 years — and removed the £150 million GBP stepdown in facility size, setting its maturity period in line with the rest of the RCF. Santander was the mandated lead arranger of this amendment. Projects ID#99138 and #110882 capture this extension. As of June 30, 2017, no funds had been drawn down under this RCF. On November 22, 2018, the lending syndicate again entered into an amendment agreement for the £700 million GBP RCF with Barratt Developments, extending the maturity period to November 22, 2023. It is unclear whether ABC or ICBC were part of the syndicate at this point.
Staff comments
1. The individual contribution of the 11 lenders to this £700.0 million GBP syndicated loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has estimated the contribution of ABC and ICBC by assuming that each lender contributed an equal amount (£63,636,363.6364 GBP) to the syndicated loan. 2. January 2017's "UK's Barratt adds two years to revolver" mentions ABC and ICBC as being part of the original banking syndicate in the context of two extensions. AidData has taken this as evidence that ABC and ICBC participated in these extensions, but not necessarily those past January 2017. They might have, but AidData has been unable to find direct evidence saying so. This issue merits further investigation.