IFR 03.21.2020

56 International Financing Review March 21 2020

ASIA-PACIFIC

AUSTRALIA

VODAFONE-TPG TELECOM RETURNS

VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA and TPG TELECOM

are seeking a larger A$5.25bn (US$3.07bn)

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merger, returning to the loans market after

cancelling a A$4.75bn facility that backed

the exercise last year.

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THREE

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revolving Facility C.

The loan offers margins of 125bp over

BBSY for Facility A and 145bp over BBSY for

Facilities B and C, based on a net debt-to-

Ebitda ratio of between 2.5 and 3.0 times.

The margins step down to 110bp for Facility

A and 130bp for Facilities B and C for

leverage of less than 2.5 times.

Responses are due by mid-April with a

minimum commitment of A$250m.

Market participants were expecting a new

jumbo borrowing following approval from

an Australian federal court of the A$15bn

merger in February, overruling an earlier

move from the Australian Competition and

Consumer Commission that had blocked

the deal in 2019.

The ACCC said in March it would not

appeal the court’s decision that the

proposed merger would not substantially

lessen competition.

Vodafone Hutchison Australia cancelled a

self-arranged A$4.75bn loan last year,

following the antitrust regulator’s rejection

of the merger proposal with TPG Telecom.

The cancelled deal comprised a A$2bn

three-year term loan (Facility A), a A$2bn

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had offered initial interest margins of 110bp

over BBSY for Facility A and 130bp over

BBSY for Facilities B and C.

SUNTEC REIT SIGNS GREEN LOAN

Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust has

obtained a A$450m green loan facility.

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capital purposes.

THE TRUST COMPANY (AUSTRALIA), the trustee of

subsidiary Suntec REIT (Australia) Trust, is

the borrower.

ARA Trust Management (Suntec) is the

manager of Suntec REIT. There would be a

review event if the manager ceased to be a

direct or indirect subsidiary of ARA Asset

-ANAGEMENTûORûANûAFlLIATE

The aggregate level of facilities of Suntec

REIT that may be affected as a result of cross-

defaults is about S$3.48bn (US$2.41bn), of

which approximately S$3.24bn was drawn

and outstanding as at March 19.

Suntec REIT owns four commercial

buildings in Australia, and properties in

Singapore.

WESFARMERS SIGNS DEBUT SLL

Retail-to-chemicals conglomerate

WESFARMERS has signed a A$400m

sustainability-linked loan with

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the largest

such bilateral facility Down Under.

The three-year loan, Wesfarmers’ debut

SLL facility, pays an interest margin tied to

the company’s performance in meeting

ambitious targets linked to indigenous

employment and reductions in carbon

emissions intensity. The ASX-listed company

will have to pay more if it does not meet

those targets.

The loan agreement converts an existing

borrowing into the new SLL.

The SLL for Wesfarmers follows another

A$75m bilateral facility that CBA provided

to Queensland Airports in July last year. The

airport operator also raised a A$25m SLL

from Westpac the same month.

Both bilateral SLLs from CBA and Westpac

were based on carbon accreditation through

the Airports Council International

programme and a reduction in carbon

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for an Australian airport.

RESOLUTE MINING COMPLETES REFI

RESOLUTE MINING has signed an up to US$300m

loan with existing and new banks.

BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Investec, Nedbank, ING

and Societe Generale are providing the new

loan, which comprises a US$150m three-

year revolving credit facility and a US$150m

FOUR

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interest margin of 400bp over Libor for the

drawn portion.

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secured project loan provided by Taurus

Funds Management for the initial

construction of the Mako gold mine in

Senegal, and replaces US$195m of

existing senior bank debt.

The facility is expected to be drawn to

about US$250m to complete the repayment

of the Mako project loan.

The Mako gold mine will form part of

Resolute’s overall security package for the

loan and will have no external royalty or

independent encumbrance.

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agreement to acquire the related project

royalty in January 2020, and subsequently

the repayment of the US$130m acquisition

bridge facility in February 2020.

On January 15, Resolute announced it will

sell its Ravenswood Gold mine for up to

A$300m to a consortium led by resource-

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In January 2019, the company completed

a US$150m three-year revolving credit

facility underwritten by Investec. BNP

Paribas, Nedbank and Citigroup joined the

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CHINA

HUMANWELL SEEKS US$150m LOAN

Shanghai-listed healthcare provider

HUMANWELL HEALTHCARE GROUP is in the market

with a US$150m three-year loan for general

corporate purposes.

Standard Chartered is the sole mandated

lead arranger and bookrunner of the

transaction.

The amortising loan offers an interest

margin of 160bp over Libor and has an

average life of 2.7 years.

MLAs joining with tickets of US$35m or

above earn top-level all-in pricing of 190bp

via a 81bp fee, while lead arrangers taking

US$15m–$34m receive 180bp all-in via a

54bp fee.

The government of Hubei province,

where the coronavirus emerged, has

appointed Humanwell Healthcare as one of

the three main distributors of medical and

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In 2017, the company partnered with

Citic Capital to acquire the condoms

division of Australian industrial and medical

gloves maker Ansell. China Merchants Bank

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ASIA-PACIFIC LOANS BOOKRUNNERS – FULLY

SYNDICATED VOLUME (INCLUDING JAPAN)

BOOKRUNNERS: 1/1/2020 TO DATE

Managing No of Total Share

bank or group issues US$(m) (%)

Proportional credit

Source: Refinitiv SDC code: S3a

1 Mizuho 84 11,524.44 21.2

2 MUFG 108 8,018.63 14.7

3 Sumitomo Mitsui 93 7,504.18 13.8

4 China Merchants Bk 5 4,098.39 7.5

5 Bank of China 11 1,980.61 3.6

6 HSBC 11 1,435.30 2.6

7 State Bank of India 5 1,310.98 2.4

8 Standard Chartered 12 1,292.19 2.4

9 CBA 5 893.71 1.6

10 Sumitomo Mitsui Trust 3 799.24 1.5

Total 354 54,437.48

9 IFR Loans 2325 p 55 - XX.indd 56 20 / 03 / 2020 19 : 00 : 37