Cox closes €700M syndicated loan with ICBC and Bank of China joining the syndicate
What's the deal? ICBC and Bank of ChinaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → have joined a syndicated loan worth €700M for CoxDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Spanish energy group founded and chaired by Enrique Riquelme. The credit facility rounds out a larger financing package tied to Cox's acquisition of IberdrolaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s assets in Mexico, announced last year.
The syndicate now includes CitiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BarclaysDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BBVADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Deutsche BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Goldman SachsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SantanderDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ScotiabankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and nine additional institutions.
The long-term loan complements US$1.29B bond issuance Cox completed in May on the US market. Cox originally secured US$1.71B bridge loan from seven banks, which it is now replacing with more permanent financing.
Iberdrola itself is also providing US$170.8M vendor's loan, a common arrangement covering assets still under development that are settled as they become operational.
Why now? The timing is significant on two fronts. Financially, bridge loans are designed to be temporary, so Cox needed to lock in long-term debt to replace the original $2.65B facility. Politically, Riquelme is in a fierce contest with Florentino Pérez for the presidency of Real Madrid — a race in which the financial credibility of each candidate's business empire matters enormously.
What could go wrong? Speculation had swirled in financial circles that Cox was paying usurious interest rates — reportedly above 50% — on its bridge financing, and that it was struggling to secure all the credit it needed. The successful closing of the term loan and bond issuance pushes back against that narrative, but the sheer scale of borrowing means Cox will carry a heavy debt load tied to the Mexican energy assets.
The signal: The participation of ICBC and Bank of China — both corporate investors with global reach — in a syndicate alongside Citi, Barclays, and Goldman Sachs reflects growing appetite among Asian state-backed lenders for Latin American energy infrastructure exposure via European sponsors. For Cox, a mature energy group now carrying billions in long-term debt, successfully replacing its bridge loan with permanent financing from a 17-bank syndicate is a decisive stress test passed at a politically charged moment for its founder.
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