International Financing Review February 29 2020 63LOANS EMEAoptions and a one-year term-out option; and
AûaBNûlVE
YEARûTRANCHEûWITHûTWOûONE
YEARû
extension options.
The existing £6bn RCF comprises a £3bn
364-day tranche that was extended last year
to mature in July 2020; and a £3bn tranche
that matures in May 2021.
4HEûlNANCINGûWASûPUTûINûPLACEûINû*ANUARYû
2017 as the company worked towards
completing its US$49bn acquisition of the
stake in Reynolds American that it did not
already own.
Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche
Bank, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland
ARRANGEDûTHATûlNANCINGû(3"#ûWASûFACILITYû
agent.
BAT tapped some of its core banks for
£745m of short-term bilateral loans in July
2019.
The company has evaluated its
mOATING
RATEûDEBTûMATURINGûBEYONDûTHEû
potential discontinuation of Libor at the end
of 2021.
It said its Libor-based contracts adequately
provide for alternate calculations of interest
if Libor becomes unavailable.
Although the alternative calculation
may cause an administrative burden,
BAT said it will not materially affect the
group or its ability to manage its interest
rate risk.
BAT is rated BBB+ by S&P and Baa2 by
Moody’s.CLINIGEN GEARS UP FOR £430mPharmaceuticals company CLINIGEN has
increased its debt facilities to £430m from
aMûTOûlNANCEûUPCOMINGûDEFERREDû
payments from its acquisition of packaging
and distribution company CSM in October
2018 and the US rights to cancer treatment
Proleukin in April 2019.
The increased facilities will also provide
headroom for potential acquisitions.
4HEûUNSECUREDûlNANCINGûCOMPRISESûAû
£180m bullet term loan, increased from
£150m, and a £250m revolving credit
facility, up from £225m.
4HEûlNANCINGûMATURESûINû/CTOBERû
As part of the CSM acquisition Clinigen
RElNANCEDûANDûINCREASEDûITSûlNANCINGûTOû
£300m from £220m, split between a £150m
term loan and £150m RCF.
4HEûlNANCINGûWASûAGREEDûVIAûMANDATEDû
lead arrangers HSBC and NatWest with ABN
AMRO, Banco Santander and Royal Bank of
Canada also participating.
#LINIGENûINCREASEDûTHEûlNANCINGûAGAINûINû
-ARCHûûBYûaMûTOûlNANCEûTHEû
acquisition of the US rights to Proleukin,
after the company had acquired the rest of
world rights in July 2018.
4HEûlNANCINGûPAYSûAûDRAWNûMARGINûOFû
200bp over Libor.HAMMERSON UPS RCF TO £410mProperty developer HAMMERSON has increased
one of its revolving credit facilities by £50m
to £410m after a new lender joined the bank
syndicate.
The unsecured RCF was originally
arranged in April 2017 via coordinating
bank MUFG.
BNP Paribas, First Commercial Bank,
ICBC, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland and
Wells Fargo were also mandated lead
arrangers and bookrunners on the
transaction, which matures in April 2024.
Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of
China, Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa
Commercial Bank, CIC and Hua Nan
Commercial Bank also provided
commitments.
Deutsche Bank is facility agent.
Hammerson now has £1.245bn of RCFs,
including a £415m facility signed in April
2015 and a £420m facility signed in April
2016.HEATHROW LINKS REVOLVERS TO ESGThe expansion of London’s HEATHROW AIRPORT
was declared unlawful by an appeal court
judge on Thursday, a major setback for the
US$18bn project that could prompt the UK
government to pull its support for a third
runway.
Heathrow said on Wednesday that it had
linked its revolving credit facilities to
environmental, social and corporate
governance factors as part of an amendment
of the facilities in November.
As part of the amendment the RCFs were
also extended by two years to November
2023.
In line with industry-wide agreements,
Heathrow has committed to reach net-zero
carbon by 2050.
Heathrow achieved carbon-neutral status
in January and is working towards operating
zero-carbon infrastructure by mid-2030s for
all its infrastructure.
The company also said on Wednesday
before the ruling that unless the proposed
expansion of Heathrow meets strict
environmental targets, no additional
capacity can or will be used.
Under the £14bn expansion plan,
Heathrow’s new runway was scheduled to
open in 2028.
However the judge said that in its current
form the UK government’s policy was
unlawful as it failed to take into account
climate change commitments made by the
government when it signed up to the Paris
Agreement in 2015.
The £1.3bn RCFs are provided by a large
club syndicate of Banco Santander, Bank of
America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, CIBC,Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Agricole
CIB, CIC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC,
ICBC, JP Morgan, Lloyds Bank, Morgan Stanley,
National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Canada,
NatWest, Scotiabank, Societe Generale, TD Bank
and UBS.INTU AMENDS AND EXTENDSShopping centre operator INTU has agreed
terms on amendment and extension of its
revolving credit facility.
The revised £440m four-year facility
replaces a £600m RCF that was due to
mature in October 2021.
4HEûAMENDEDûlNANCING ûWHICHûISû
conditional on Intu raising a minimum of
£1.3bn of equity, is being provided by the
banks on the existing RCF comprising Bank
of America, Barclays, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Lloyds,
NatWest and UBS.
Intu is working with corporate brokers
"ANKûOFû!MERICAûANDû5"3 ûANDûlNANCIALû
adviser Rothschild & Co, on the equity raise.BAKKAVOR TO REFINANCEPrepared food producer BAKKAVOR is
RElNANCINGûITSûaMûOFûLOANS
4HEûEXISTINGûlNANCINGûINCLUDESûAûaMû
revolving credit facility maturing in June
2021 and term loans totalling £247.5m, of
which £210m mature in June 2021 and the
remainder in June 2024.
There are also £70m of other debt
facilities, of which £25m matures in August
2020, £20m in November 2020, and £25m in
September 2026.
4HEûRElNANCINGûISûEXPECTEDûTOûCLOSEûINûTHEû
coming months.
"AKKAVORûAGREEDûAûaMûRElNANCINGûINû
February 2017 comprising the £200m
revolving credit facility, the £210m term
loan and a £75m term loan.
4HATûlNANCINGûWASûARRANGEDûBYû
coordinating banks HSBC and Rabobank as
bookrunning mandated lead arrangers.CRODA REFIS WITH SLLChemicals company CRODA INTERNATIONAL has
agreed a sustainability-linked revolving
CREDITûFACILITYûTOûRElNANCEûITSûPRINCIPALûBANKû
debt.
The company worked with a core group of
nine banks to agree the revolver, which
requires Croda to reduce its carbon use
EVERYûYEARûBYûAûSPECIlEDûAMOUNT
If Croda achieves the target it will pay a
reduced interest margin, using the savings
to invest in sustainability projects. If Croda
does not achieve the target in any year it will
pay increased interest margins which the
banks will also use to invest in sustainability
projects.9 IFR Loans 2322 p 55 - 72 .indd 63 28 / 02 / 2020 18 : 11 : 31