Bank of China contributes €210.588 million EUR to a €3.58 billion EUR tranche of a $13.3 billion USD syndicated loan to LSEG to support its acquisition of Refinitiv Limited (Linked to Record ID#99624)

Project narrative

On July 27, 2019, London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) — the British stock exchange and financial information company and owner of the London Stock Exchange — entered into an agreement to acquire all shares of British-American financial data company Refinitiv Limited for approximately £22.2 billion GBP ($27 billion USD). In August 2019, a three-bank syndicate — Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley — agreed to serve as underwriters of a $13.3 billion USD syndicated bridge loan with LSEG to support the acquisition of Refinitiv. This loan was was launched into syndication in early August 2019, bringing 14 more lenders. Syndication was completed in September 2019. Then, in September 2019, syndication close; as a result, a syndicate of 17 banks — including the London Branch of the Bank of China (BOC) — entered into a $13.3 billion USD syndicated bridge loan agreement with LSEG to support its acquisition of Refinitiv. This loan was divided into two tranches: a $9,325,000,000 USD ('Facility A') tranche and a €3,580,000,000 EUR ('Facility B') tranche. This loan carried a maturity period of three years and a final maturity date in August 2022. BOC London Branch contributed $548,529,411.77 USD to Facility A as captured by Record ID#99624. The breakdown of contributions for Facility A is as follows: Barclays Bank ($548,529,411.77 USD), Goldman Sachs International Bank ($36,568,627.45 USD), Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC ($511,960,784.32 USD), Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. ($548,529,411.77 USD), the London Branch of Banca IMI S.p.A. ($548,529,411.77 USD), the London Branch of Banco Santander S.A. ($548,529,411.77 USD), the London Branch of Bank of America N.A. ($548,529,411.77 USD), BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV ($548,529,411.77 USD), the London Branch of Citibank N.A. ($548,529,411.76 USD), HSBC Bank PLC ($548,529,411.76 USD), Lloyds Bank plc ($548,529,411.76 USD), MUFG Bank ($548,529,411.76 USD), National Westminster Bank plc (NatWest) ($548,529,411.76 USD), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) ($548,529,411.76 USD), the London Branch of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) ($548,529,411.76 USD), the London Branch of Toronto-Dominion Bank ($548,529,411.76 USD), and the London Branch of Wells Fargo Bank N.A. ($548,529,411.76 USD). BOC London Branch contributed €210,588,235.30 EUR to Facility B as captured by Record ID#99625. The breakdown of contributions for Facility B is as follows: Barclays Bank (€210,588,235.30 EUR), Goldman Sachs Intl (€14,039,215.69 EUR), Goldman Sachs LP (€196,549,019.61 EUR), Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. (€210,588,235.30 EUR), the London Branch of Banca IMI (€210,588,235.30 EUR), the London Branch of Banco Santander (€210,588,235.30 EUR), the London Branch of Bank of America (€210,588,235.30 EUR), BNP Paribas Fortis (€210,588,235.29 EUR), the London Branch of Citibank (€210,588,235.29 EUR), HSBC (€210,588,235.29 EUR), Lloyds Bank (€210,588,235.29 EUR), MUFG Bank (€210,588,235.29 EUR), NatWest (€210,588,235.29 EUR), RBC (€210,588,235.29 EUR), SMBC London (€210,588,235.29 EUR), the London Branch of Toronto-Dominion Bank (€210,588,235.29 EUR), and the London Branch of Wells Fargo Bank (€210,588,235.29 EUR). The proceeds were specifically to be used to replace and refinance Refinitiv's $13.5 billion USD of leveraged loans and bonds that had been used in October 2018 by a consortium led by American private equity firm Blackstone to purchase a 55% stake in Refinitiv — Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business, with Thomson Reuters retaining the 45% stake — for $20 billion USD. The acquisition by LSEG itself was financed with newly issued shares. After the completion of the acquisition, Thomson, Reuters, Blackstone and investors in the Blackstone consortium, including GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, would own an economic interest of around 37% of LSEG and less than 30% of its total voting rights in exchange for Refinitiv. In September 2019, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) owner of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange launched a £32 billion GBP bid for LSEG on the condition that LSEG reneged on its agreement to buy Refinitiv; the bid failed and was abandoned by HKEX in October 2019. The acquisition was originally expected to be completed in the second half of 2020. However, the European Commission launched an investigation after concerns that the acquisition would harm competition in bond trading and market data, delaying close. Then, in January 2021, the European Commission approved it, on the condition that LSEG sell its Borsa Italiana business and MTS bond trading platform. The acquisition was completed on January 29, 2021. In December 2020, the proceeds of a $2 billion USD tranche and a €500 million EUR tranche of a $6 billion USD syndicated loan led by MUFG and NatWest were used to repay and refinance $2.59 billion USD of the bridge loan, leaving $7.325 billion USD and €3.08 billion EUR outstanding before maturity in August 2022. Analysts expected that LSEG would turn to the bond market to refinance the remainder of the bridge loan.