HONG KONG (Reuters) - The China Investment Corp sovereign wealth fund is arranging a 6.8 billion euro (6.11 billion pounds) loan to fund its acquisition of European warehouse firm Logicor, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point.
Bank of China (SS:601988) (HK:3988) and China Construction Bank (SS:601939) (HK:0939) have jointly underwritten the loan, which marks CIC's debut in the syndicated loan market, the people said.
In June, CIC agreed to a buyout of Logicor [IPO-LOG.L] from Blackstone Group LP (N:BX) for 12.25 billion euros ($14.34 billion) in Europe's biggest private equity real estate deal.
CIC's loan is the largest from an Asian sovereign wealth fund and a rare acquisition financing, Basis Point reported.
Among other Asian sovereign wealth funds that have been active in overseas acquisitions, only Singapore's Temasek Holdings and Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional have raised funds in the loan market, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.
Bank of China and China Construction Bank are expected to jointly lend 3.8 billion euros of the total 6.8 billion euros being raised, while the remainder will be syndicated to other banks, the people told Basis Point.
The people declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.
Representatives at Bank of China, CIC, and China Construction Bank did not respond to Reuters requests seeking immediate comment.
($1 = 0.8543 euros)