Shanghai [2005-12-14]
Shanghai, PRC - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK) today announced it has entered into a long-term loan facility agreement in the aggregate principal amount of no more than EUR 85 million with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and Commerz bank (Nederland) N.V. as the lenders. The proceeds from the facility are to be used to purchase lithography equipment to support the expansion of its manufacturing facilities. Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. of Amsterdam will guarantee SMIC's obligations under the facility agreement.
"SMIC is extremely pleased to enter into this facility, with the strong support and assistance of Atradius," commented Morning Wu, Acting Chief Financial Officer of SMIC. "This facility demonstrates SMIC's ability to identify alternative, low-cost funding sources to support its capital expenditures to purchase equipment at the advanced technology nodes. We appreciate the support and cooperation of our lenders and Atradius in reaching the final agreement in a short period of time and look forward to the opportunity to extend the facility in the future."
"This facility agreement, which is the first of its type between Atradius and a semiconductor foundry based in the People's Republic of China, is an indication of the vast possibilities to cooperate and further develop the trade between the Netherlands and China," said Johan Schrijver, Director of Atradius Dutch State Business.
"ABN AMRO is delighted to be able to assist on this landmark transaction for SMIC, which represents the first export credit agency deal out of China which did not require a Chinese government or Chinese bank guarantee," said Mike Netterfield, ABN AMRO Managing Director and Co-head of Technology Banking in Asia Pacific.
"Commerzbank is pleased having been able to structure and coordinate this Atradius-covered transaction with a corporate borrower in China," said Alexander Rost, Vice President, Structured Export and Trade Finance. "This financing clearly proves how crucial excellent international cooperation between borrowers and lenders, exporters and export credit agencies in the development of cross-border trade has become."
The signing of the loan facility agreement was officiated by Dutch and Shanghai governmental officials.
About SMIC
SMIC (NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 90-nanometer and finer line technologies to customers worldwide. Established in 2000, SMIC has four 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in volume production in Shanghai and Tianjin. In the first quarter of 2005, SMIC commenced commercial production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing. SMIC also maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. As part of its dedication towards providing high-quality services, SMIC has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000, BS7799 and ISO14001 certifications. For additional information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
About ABN AMRO
Netherlands-based ABN AMRO is a leading international bank with total assets of EUR899.3bln (as at 30 September 2005). It has over 3,000 branches in more than 60 countries and territories, and has a staff of over 98,000 full-time equivalents worldwide. ABN AMRO is listed on the Euronext and New York stock exchanges.
About Commerzbank
Germany-based Commerzbank, founded 1870 in Hamburg today is a so-called universal bank covering retail banking, corporate/wholesale banking and investment banking. As of 30.09.2005 had total assets of EUR 458 bln. It supports its customers world-wide via subsidiaries, branches and offices. Out of a total 33,230 staff, 7,646 are employed in more than 40 countries.
About Atradius
Atradius is a leading credit insurer with a total revenue of around EUR 1,3 billion and a world-wide market share of 24 percent. It insures about EUR 300 billion of world-wide trade annually against the risk of non-payment and provides a comprehensive range of risk transfer, financing and trade receivables management. Since 1932 Atradius has had an agreement with the Dutch government to reinsure both its commercial and political export risks with the Dutch State.
With a staff of 3400 and more than 90 offices in 40 countries, Atradius has access to credit information on 45 million companies world-wide and makes 10.000 credit limit decisions daily. Atradius is rated "A" by Standard & Poor's (outlook stable) and "A2" by Moody's (outlook stable). It is majority owned by Swiss Re and Deutsche Bank.
Shanghai, PRC - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 0981.HK) today announced it has entered into a long-term loan facility agreement in the aggregate principal amount of no more than EUR 85 million with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and Commerz bank (Nederland) N.V. as the lenders. The proceeds from the facility are to be used to purchase lithography equipment to support the expansion of its manufacturing facilities. Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. of Amsterdam will guarantee SMIC's obligations under the facility agreement.
"SMIC is extremely pleased to enter into this facility, with the strong support and assistance of Atradius," commented Morning Wu, Acting Chief Financial Officer of SMIC. "This facility demonstrates SMIC's ability to identify alternative, low-cost funding sources to support its capital expenditures to purchase equipment at the advanced technology nodes. We appreciate the support and cooperation of our lenders and Atradius in reaching the final agreement in a short period of time and look forward to the opportunity to extend the facility in the future."
"This facility agreement, which is the first of its type between Atradius and a semiconductor foundry based in the People's Republic of China, is an indication of the vast possibilities to cooperate and further develop the trade between the Netherlands and China," said Johan Schrijver, Director of Atradius Dutch State Business.
"ABN AMRO is delighted to be able to assist on this landmark transaction for SMIC, which represents the first export credit agency deal out of China which did not require a Chinese government or Chinese bank guarantee," said Mike Netterfield, ABN AMRO Managing Director and Co-head of Technology Banking in Asia Pacific.
"Commerzbank is pleased having been able to structure and coordinate this Atradius-covered transaction with a corporate borrower in China," said Alexander Rost, Vice President, Structured Export and Trade Finance. "This financing clearly proves how crucial excellent international cooperation between borrowers and lenders, exporters and export credit agencies in the development of cross-border trade has become."
The signing of the loan facility agreement was officiated by Dutch and Shanghai governmental officials.
About SMIC
SMIC (NYSE: SMI, SEHK: 0981.HK) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, providing integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing at 0.35-micron to 90-nanometer and finer line technologies to customers worldwide. Established in 2000, SMIC has four 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities in volume production in Shanghai and Tianjin. In the first quarter of 2005, SMIC commenced commercial production at its 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Beijing. SMIC also maintains customer service and marketing offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and a representative office in Hong Kong. As part of its dedication towards providing high-quality services, SMIC has achieved ISO9001, ISO/TS16949, OHSAS18001, TL9000, BS7799 and ISO14001 certifications. For additional information, please visit http://www.smics.com.
About ABN AMRO
Netherlands-based ABN AMRO is a leading international bank with total assets of EUR899.3bln (as at 30 September 2005). It has over 3,000 branches in more than 60 countries and territories, and has a staff of over 98,000 full-time equivalents worldwide. ABN AMRO is listed on the Euronext and New York stock exchanges.
About Commerzbank
Germany-based Commerzbank, founded 1870 in Hamburg today is a so-called universal bank covering retail banking, corporate/wholesale banking and investment banking. As of 30.09.2005 had total assets of EUR 458 bln. It supports its customers world-wide via subsidiaries, branches and offices. Out of a total 33,230 staff, 7,646 are employed in more than 40 countries.
About Atradius
Atradius is a leading credit insurer with a total revenue of around EUR 1,3 billion and a world-wide market share of 24 percent. It insures about EUR 300 billion of world-wide trade annually against the risk of non-payment and provides a comprehensive range of risk transfer, financing and trade receivables management. Since 1932 Atradius has had an agreement with the Dutch government to reinsure both its commercial and political export risks with the Dutch State.
With a staff of 3400 and more than 90 offices in 40 countries, Atradius has access to credit information on 45 million companies world-wide and makes 10.000 credit limit decisions daily. Atradius is rated "A" by Standard & Poor's (outlook stable) and "A2" by Moody's (outlook stable). It is majority owned by Swiss Re and Deutsche Bank.
