Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On July 17, 2020, a syndicate of eight banks — including the London Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — signed a £2.500 billion GBP ($3.31913 billion USD) senior secured syndicated loan agreement with Planets UK Bidco Limited — an United Kingdom-based special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by KKR Global Infrastructure Investors III L.P. (50% equity stake) and KKR Global Impact Fund I (EUR) SCSp (50% equity stake), both funds managed and advised by KKR & Co. Inc., an American global investment company — for the acquisition of an 100% interest in Viridor Limited, a United Kingdom waste management company, from Pennon Group plc. This loan was divided into two tranches: a £2.200 billion GBP ($2.76243 billion USD) term loan with a maturity period of five years, a final maturity date of July 8, 2025, and an interest rate based upon LIBOR plus a margin ranging from 100 basis points (bps) to 300 bps and a £300.00 million GBP ($376.70 million USD) revolving credit facility (RCF) tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of July 8, 2025. ICBC contributed £302.14 million GBP ($379.39 million USD) to the £2.200 billion GBP term loan tranche. Record ID#92820 captures ICBC's contribution to this tranche. All six lenders, including ICBC, contributed £50.00 million GBP ($62.78 million USD) to the £300 million GBP revolver tranche. Record ID#92821 captures ICBC's contribution to this tranche. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower, alongside £1.700 billion GBP ($2.13461 billion USD) in equity (£850.00 million GBP ($1.06730 billion USD) each), to finance KKR's £4.200 billion GBP ($5.27374 billion USD) all-cash acquisition of Viridor Limited from Pennon Group. The acquisition was announced on March 18, 2020. Financial close of the acquisition was achieved on July 8, 2020. Viridor Limited is a leading waste management company in the United Kingdom that owns 11 Energy Recovery Facilities and handles about.6.8 million tons of waste (including recycling and landfills). Then, on December 1, 2021, a syndicate of 20 banks — including ICBC — entered into a £2.615 billion GBP ($3.48381 billion USD) syndicated debt agreement with KKR Global Infrastructure Investors III and KKR Global Impact Fund for the Viridor Acquisition Refinancing Project. This loan was divided into four tranches: a £900 million GBP ($1.11902 billion USD) term loan tranche, a £1.585 billion GBP ($2.11160 billion USD) 22-year commercial bond, a £65.00 million GBP ($86.60 million USD) revolver tranche with a maturity period of five years maturing on December 1, 2026, and a £65.00 million GBP debt service reserve facility with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of December 1, 2026. The proceeds were to be used by KKR for the refinancing of the acquisition of Viridor Limited. 16 lenders, including ICBC, each contributed £56.25 million GBP ($74.94 million USD) to the £900 million GBP term loan tranche. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed to this tranche: National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest), Korea Development Bank (KDB), AXA S.A., Swiss Reinsurance, National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), CaixaBank, S.A., Mizuho Bank, KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank, Aviva, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC) (MetLife), Siemens Bank GmbH, Shinhan Bank, Codan Forsikring A/S, and IFM Investors Pty Ltd. BNP Paribas S.A. and Société Générale S.A. (SocGen) were the bond arrangers for the £1.585 billion GBP bond. Only seven lenders, not including ICBC, contributed to the £65 million GBP revolver tranche. The following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the tranche: NatWest (£7.50 million GBP; $9.99 million USD), CaixaBank (£7.50 million GBP), Siemens Bank (£20.00 million GBP; $26.64 million USD), SocGen (£10.00 million GBP; $13.32 million USD), Barclays Bank Plc (£2.50 million GBP; $3.33 million USD), BNP Paribas (£10.00 million GBP), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank) (£7.50 million GBP). Only seven lenders, not including ICBC, contributed to the £65 million GBP debt service reserve facility tranche. The following lenders contributed the respective amounts to the tranche: NatWest (£7.50 million GBP), CaixaBank (£7.50 million GBP), Siemens Bank (£20.00 million GBP), SocGen (£10.00 million GBP), Barclays Bank (£2.50 million GBP), BNP Paribas (£10.00 million GBP), and TD Bank (£7.50 million GBP).