wholly owned offshore unit, is the borrower
on the loan and the acquiring entity.
The loan’s interest margin is tied to the
credit enhancement from the Shanghai-
based parent. If it provides a guarantee, the
margin will be 105bp over Libor. Should
Shanghai Pharma only provide a keepwell
agreement, the margin will be 115bp over
Libor.
Mandated lead arrangers committing
US$30m or more were offered a top-level
all-in pricing of 130bp or 120bp via upfront
fees of 45bp, while lead arrangers joining
with US$20m–$29m were offered an all-in
pricing of 126bp or 116bp via a 33bp fee.
Shanghai Pharma acquired Takeda
Chromo Beteiligungs, a subsidiary of
Switzerland-based Takeda Pharma AG,
for US$144m on August 21, which gave
it an additional 26.3% stake in Chinese
pharmaceutical firm Techpool Bio-pharma.
Following the deal, Shanghai Pharma’s
stake in Techpool rose to 67.1%.
Shanghai Pharma is listed in Shanghai
and Hong Kong, with the Shanghai
municipal government as its indirect
biggest shareholder.
For full allocations, see http://www.ifrasia.com.
› BAOXIN AUTO TO BORROW US$200M
A dual-tranche US$200m three-year term
loan for Chinese auto dealership GRAND BAOXIN
AUTO GROUP is being priced at 308bp over
Libor with an average life of 2.925 years.
Standard Chartered is the mandated lead
arranger and bookrunner.
MLABs committing US$50m or more
will receive an all-in pricing of 349bp via a
participation fee of 120bp, while MLAs joining
with US$30m–$49m earn an all-in pricing
of 337bp via an 85bp fee. Lead arrangers
coming in with US$20m–$29m will receive an
all-in pricing of 326.8bp via a 55bp fee, while
arrangers joining with US$10m–$19m earn an
all-in pricing of 316.5bp via a 25bp fee.
Bank meetings will be held in Shanghai on
September 5, Hong Kong on September 7 and
Taipei on September 21. The final deadline
for commitments is early November.
Special-purpose vehicle BAOXIN AUTO FINANCE
I is the borrower on tranche A, while Grand
Baoxin Auto Group is the borrower on tranche
B. China Grand Automotive Services is the
guarantor on both portions, the respective
sizes of which have not been disclosed.
In August 2017, Grand Baoxin Auto
Group increased a facility to US$837.4m
from US$763.4m after it exercised a
greenshoe option. StanChart also led that
loan, which offered a top-level all-in pricing
of 365bp based on a margin of 320bp over
Libor and an average life of 2.925 years.› WESTERN MINING DEBUTS WITH US$100MChinese non-ferrous metals miner and
trader WESTERN MINING GROUP is making its
loan market debut with a US$100m three-
year facility.Nanyang Commercial Bank is the mandated
lead arranger and bookrunner of the
transaction, which has a two-year put
option and an US$80m greenshoe.
The deal offers an interest margin of 260bp
over Libor and has an average life of 2.45
years.
MLAs committing US$30m or more
will receive an all-in pricing of 299bp via a
participation fee of 66bp, while lead arrangers
joining with US$20m–$29m earn an all-in
pricing of 289bp via a 40bp fee. Arrangers
coming in for US$10m–$19m will receive an
all-in pricing of 280bp via a 20bp fee.
The all-in pricing includes a 10bp early-
bird fee for those joining by September 24
and a 20bp put-option waiver fee. The final
deadline for commitments is October 8.› NEW HOPE SEEKS US$100M CLUBChina’s largest animal-feed maker New
Hope Liuhe is seeking a US$100m three-
year club loan.
United Overseas Bank is the sole mandated
lead arranger and bookrunner on the
financing, which has an unspecified
greenshoe option. The deal offers an
interest margin of 120bp over Libor.
The borrower is NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL
(HONG KONG), the Hong Kong unit of the
Shenzhen-listed agribusiness company.
Funds are for refinancing purposes.
In November 2015, New Hope
International (Hong Kong) raised a same-CAS Engineering faces action over default
Loans Lenders seek to freeze assets and recover duesLenders on a Rmb1.05bn (US$154m) loan
for CAS ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT CORP, a unit
of The Chinese Academy of Sciences, have
begun legal proceedings to recover their
dues after the borrower defaulted on the
financing in June.
Eight foreign lenders, along with facility
agent Morgan Stanley, have filed a case
with the Shanghai High Court against CAS
Engineering as well as its affiliate and
guarantor, CAS JF Investment Holding
Group, to freeze the borrower’s assets and
recover the amount outstanding.
Morgan Stanley had syndicated the three-
year unsecured loan largely to Hong Kong
and Taiwanese banks in June 2015 and had
ended up with zero final hold.
A few weeks before maturity, CAS
Engineering requested from lenders an
extension of the facility as it was facing
difficulties paying off the remainingRmb945m outstanding, or 90% of the
loan. On June 29, the maturity date, CAS
Engineering only paid the interest on the
loan.
Lenders were prepared to grant a seven-
month extension until the end of January
2019, but required CAS Engineering to
start repaying the outstanding principal
in monthly instalments. They also asked
the borrower to provide additional credit
enhancements in the form of guarantees
from other entities or security.
CAS Engineering agreed to pay a one-
time extension fee of 100bp and a step-up
in the interest margin from July to 130% of
the PBoC rate from 115% originally. But it
rejected the monthly instalment payment
condition from lenders and asked for a bullet
repayment at the end of January. It was also
not in a position to provide additional credit
enhancement.CAS Engineering could not be contacted
for comment.
The banks that had joined the June 2015
loan are Bank of East Asia and Wing Lung
Bank as MLAs with Rmb200m each, and lead
arrangers Mega International Commercial
Bank (Rmb150m) and Chang Hwa
Commercial Bank, Chong Hing Bank, CTBC
Bank, E Sun Commercial Bank and Maybank
with Rmb100m apiece.
The loan carries a covenant requiring the
Chinese Academy of Sciences to own at least
90% of CAS Engineering. The parent is also
the ultimate owner of Legend Holdings and
Oriental Scientific Instruments Corp, among
others.
Shanghai-based CAS Engineering is
mainly engaged in government housing and
infrastructure construction projects across
the country.
YAN JIANG