Linklaters was pleased to advise China Construction Bank and other banks on the HK$39 billion Term Loan Facility (the ‘Facility’) for China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd. (‘China Cinda’) to acquire Nanyang Commercial Bank, Limited - the largest acquisition financing in the history of China’s banking sector.
China Cinda (HK) Holdings Company Limited (‘Cinda HK’) is the borrower of the Facility and its wholly-owned special purpose vehicle Cinda Financial Holdings Co., Limited acts as the acquirer of the target. The Facility comprises three tranches with tenor of 5, 7 and 10 years respectively, with a fixed interest rate. As the parent company of Cinda HK, China Cinda is providing credit enhancement for the Facility by means of a Keepwell Agreement and Equity Interest Purchase, Investment and Liquidity Support Undertaking.
China Construction Bank was mandated by China Cinda as the sole Global Coordinator, sole Bookrunner, Facility Agent, Security Agent, and was appointed as Mandated Lead Arrangers with China Development Bank to coordinate the syndication of the Facility. Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Merchants Bank and China Everbright Bank have joined the Facility. Despite a volatile market environment at the beginning of this year, the Facility received favourable market response in syndication. The Facility was significantly oversubscribed, which shows the market recognition of China Cinda’s management capability as well as the opportunity afforded by this acquisition.
“This deal demonstrates Linklaters’ strength in facilitating high value, complex and multijurisdictional deals outbound from China (following on from the European financing for the Syngenta acquisition by ChemChina). We were delighted to once again act for China Construction Bank” said Nathalie Hobbs, Linklaters, Hong Kong.
The team comprised Frank Cui and Mandy Huang of its Banking & Projects teams in Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as Nathalie Hobbs.