Sands China renegotiates $2 billion loan facility amid Covid-19

Casino operator Sands China Ltd, has renegotiated the conditions of a $2 billion (MOP16 billion) loan facility that the company has held since November 2018. A filing made by its mother company, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nasdaq Stock Exchange acknowledged this.
In the filing dated March 27, LVS informed that Macau subsidiary Sands China had entered a waiver and amendment request letter with regard to certain provisions of the Facility Agreement made with several bank lenders and with Bank of China Limited, Macau Branch as the agent.
This renegotiation is said to be related to the difficulties the company was experiencing in Macau and its ability to respect the terms of the 2018 agreement due to the ongoing impacts of Covid-19. These include several border control measures and travel restrictions that are keeping casino players away from Macau.
In the filing to the Nasdaq, the company acknowledges that after the new agreement, the Bank of China and the lenders it represents have agreed to waive the requirements for Sands China to comply with a leverage ratio that at the last day of any fiscal quarter should not exceed 4 to 1, among other contract clauses.
Additionally, the parties have also agreed to waive the penalties that would arise from non-compliance with the clause during the next 18 months.
In exchange, Sands China has agreed to pay a fee of an undisclosed amount to the lenders who consented to the new deal.