COUNTRY REPORT CHINAits debut €200m (US$226m) offshore loan
following a strong response from lenders.
Signing of the loan is expected to take
place in September.
Standard Chartered (Hong Kong) is the
mandated lead arranger, bookrunner
and underwriter of the three-year bullet
facility, which was launched into general
syndication in June offering a top-level
all-in pricing of 215bp based on an interest
margin of 185bp over Euribor.
Beijing Hainachuan Auto Parts is
the guarantor, while its wholly owned
subsidiary, Netherlands-based INALFA ROOF
SYSTEMS GROUP, is the borrower.
Some lenders did not commit to the loan
as the borrower has not yet released its
audited financials for 2018.
However, others have taken comfort
from the strong profile of the guarantor,
which counts Beijing Automotive Group
Co (BAIC) and Beijing Industrial Developing
Investment Management as shareholders.
Both BAIC and BIDIM are state-owned
companies and own 60% and 40%
respectively in Beijing Hainachuan Auto
Parts.
Proceeds are for refinancing and general
corporate purposes.
Inalfa Roof Systems manufactures vehicle
roof systems and has several automakers,
including Audi, BMW, Daimler, General
Motors and Jaguar Land Rover, among
others, as its clients.
Separately, BAIC Group is in the market
with a €2.2bn-equivalent loan backing its
acquisition of a minority stake in Frankfurt-
listed automaker Daimler.
› CHEMCHINA'S CNRC INKS LOANState-owned China National Chemical Corp
(ChemChina) has signed a €550m dual-
tranche loan with 13 lenders joining in
general syndication.
Mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners
Banco Santander, China Construction Bank (Asia)
and Natixis had signed the facility agreement
on June 4 and funded the deal shortly
afterwards. Signing by transfer for the
incoming banks took place on August 13.
The bullet facility is split into a €150m
one-year tranche A and a €400m three-year
tranche B with a two-year extension option.
It offered top-level all-in pricing of 100bp
and 150bp, based on interest margins of
75bp and 125bp over Euribor, respectively,
for tranches A and B.
ChemChina is the guarantor and its
subsidiary CNRC INTERNATIONAL is the borrower.
Funds are for refinancing and general
corporate purposes.
CNRC International is part of
ChemChina’s rubber unit operated by
China National Tire & Rubber.
Meanwhile, solar panel maker REC Solar
Holdings, an indirect unit of ChemChina,
is in the market for a US$150m three-year
loan offering a top-level all-in pricing of
170bp based on an interest margin of
150bp over Libor.
For full allocations, see http://www.ifrasia.com.› CONSORTIUM WRAPS UP SHANGHAI LOANA US$381m-equivalent onshore/offshore
loan backing a consortium’s purchase of anoffice building in Shanghai has closed with
seven banks joining in syndication.
DBS Bank, Standard Chartered and
United Overseas Bank were the mandated
lead arrangers and bookrunners of the
financing, which comprises a US$300m
offshore tranche and a Rmb560m (US$81m)
onshore portion.
Only the offshore tranche was
syndicated, and UOB did not sell down its
holding.
The offshore portion offered a top-level
all-in pricing of 239.9bp, based on an
interest margin of 205bp over Libor and an
average life of 2.75 years.
Proceeds fund the purchase of Corporate
Avenue 5, a grade-A office building located
at 150 Hubin Road in Shanghai’s Huangpu
district.
SHANGHAI XING QIAO PROPERTIES, which
owns the building, is the borrower on
the onshore piece, while Cayman Islands-
incorporated TOP FOUNTAIN is the borrower on
the offshore tranche.
The building serves as security for
the onshore portion and the collateral
is shared with lenders on the offshore
tranche through an inter-creditor
agreement.
Top Fountain is a joint venture between
Shui On Development (Holding) (45%), a
wholly owned subsidiary of Shui On Land,
Toronto-listed Manulife Financial (45%) and
state-owned China Life Insurance (Group)
Co (10%).
In December last year, the JV agreed to
buy 100% of Sinothink Holdings, a wholly
owned subsidiary of China Life Trustees.Quartet funds Global Switch LBO loan
Loans Syndication ongoing for £800m loan backing Chinese steelmaker Jiangsu ShagangFour banks have fully pre-funded the £800m
(US$967bn) three-year loan backing Chinese
steelmaker JIANGSU SHAGANG GROUP’s purchase
of an additional stake in British data centre
owner Global Switch Holdings.
China Merchants Bank and DBS Bank
are the mandated lead arrangers and
bookrunners of the loan, while China
Minsheng Banking Corp and Industrial &
Commercial Bank of China joined before
limited syndication was launched in June.
The four banks had signed the loan in late
May and pre-funded it earlier this month.
Syndication is expected to close in
September or October.
Jiangsu Shagang’s wholly owned special
purpose vehicle is the borrower, while the
parent is providing a keepwell agreement.Jiangsu Shagang, the largest steelmaker
among China’s privately owned enterprises, is
buying an additional 24.01% stake in Global
Switch for around £1.75bn.
The Chinese company first acquired a stake
in Global Switch as part of two consortia that
purchased 75.99% combined earlier.
Last November, Strategic IDC, a BVI-
registered investment company representing
a consortium of six Asian institutional and
private investors, including Jiangsu Shagang,
raised a US$1.3bn three-year term loan to
fund its £2.1bn purchase of a 24.99% stake
in Global Switch. Citic Bank International and
its associate CNCB (Hong Kong) Investment
were the lenders to that deal.
Separately, Global Switch has picked
CLSA, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan assponsors for its Hong Kong IPO of about
US$1bn this year, IFR reported earlier.
Morgan Stanley is a joint global coordinator
on the float. Apart from the four banks, there
are six other joint bookrunners – Bank of
America Merrill Lynch, CICC, Credit Suisse,
Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Nomura. The
Hong Kong listing could give the company a
valuation of at least £8.4bn.
Global Switch, rated Baa2/BBB/BBB+,
operates 11 data centres across the world,
including one in Hong Kong. It began
operations for the first phase of the HK$5bn
(US$638m) Hong Kong data centre in
December 2017 and is building the second
and final phase, which will launch at the end
of this year.
APPLE LAM