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Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, the Singapore member firm of Baker McKenzie, has advised DBS Bank Ltd. (DBS) and OCBC Bank as mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners for a USD 1 billion sustainability-linked syndicated loan (SLL) facility for Aster Chemicals & Energy Pte. Ltd. (Aster).

The facility, which closed on 15 September 2025, reflected robust demand from leading banks across Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Japan, and Sri Lanka. DBS and OCBC also acted as Sustainability Coordinators, ensuring alignment of the facility with Aster Group’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives. The SLL is directly linked to measurable reductions in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions intensity.

Proceeds from the facility will support Aster’s general corporate purposes, including rejuvenation projects for its assets on Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island.

The Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow team was led by Banking & Finance Principal Emmanuel Hadjidakis, supported by Local Principal Dawn Ho and Associate Qingxun Lin.

This transaction adds to Baker McKenzie’s growing portfolio of high-profile syndicated loan deals in the region, including the USD 4.2 billion loan for Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited and Intouch Holdings Public Company Limited and a syndicate of eight foreign lenders as well as the USD 4.5 billion SLL facility for Syngenta Group (HK) Holdings Co. Ltd.

Baker McKenzie was recognized as the “Syndicated Corporate Loan Law Firm of the Year” at this year’s Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s (APLMA’s) Asia Pacific Syndicated Loan Market Awards.

Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow advised DBS Bank Ltd. and OCBC Bank as mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners for a USD 1 billion sustainability-linked syndicated loan facility for Aster Chemicals & Energy Pte. Ltd. 

Our report for INEOS explains why the European chemical industry is undergoing a severe and sustained contraction. Structural pressures, principally high energy costs, carbon costs, regulatory and permitting burdens, are eroding competitiveness relative to the United States, China, and the Middle East.

Between 2019 and 2025Q2, the European chemical sector’s output declined significantly. It has contracted by 30% in the UK, 18% in Germany, 12% in France, and 7% in Belgium. Structural pressures—chiefly high energy and carbon costs alongside regulatory and permitting burdens—are undermining the sector’s viability.

Falling output levels and lower profitability is causing European chemical firms to cut their investment relative to their global competitors. Between 2019 and 2024, the average annual growth in European chemical firms’ investment spending was half the rate of their US counterparts (1.5% versus 3.0%). This trend is projected to continue over the next decade. This will further adversely impact the sector’s competitiveness.

Emissions data suggest that, if European chemicals production is replaced by imports from China and the US, total carbon emissions will rise. Chinese and US chemical industries emit around threefold and twofold more carbon for the same volume of output, respectively, than those in Europe. The greater distances needed to transport the imports will also add to the greenhouse gas emissions.

European policymakers face a critical decision: act decisively now to safeguard this vital strategic industry or risk its irreversible decline.