A US-based retail and commercial banking company. Its subsidiary Citizens Bank has been one of the main financial backers of private prison company CoreCivic.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a retail and commercial banking company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2022, the company operated more than 1,100 branches across 14 U.S. states and generated $8 billion in revenue.
Past Financing of Private Prison Companies
Citizens Financial Group subsidiary Citizens Bank has been identified as one of several major financiers of private prison and immigrant detention companies, having provided revolving lines of credit, term loans, and bond underwriting services to CoreCivic. While other private prison financiers announced in 2019 that they would exit their relationships with private prison companies, Citizens has made no such announcement as of August 2023.
In 2018, CoreCivic entered into an amended $1 billion credit agreement with a syndicate of banks that included Citizens Bank. Replacing a previous $900 million credit agreement, this credit facility was originally set to expire in April 2023. Under the agreement, Citizens Bank provided a $96 million revolving line of credit and a $24 million term loan. In August 2020, Citizens Bank replaced Bank of America as administrative agent. In this role, the bank secured CoreCivic's loans and credit limit and acted as a go-between for the company and its lenders.
Discerning the Company's Role in Current Credit Agreements
As of September 2023, Citizens Bank is involved in the following CoreCivic bond offering:
- October 2017: CoreCivic issued $250 million of bonds, with a maturity date of 2027. As part of a syndicate of banks, Citizens Bank subsidiary Citizens Capital Markets, Inc. underwrote an undisclosed proportion of these bonds.
In May 2022, CoreCivic entered into an amended credit agreement, effectively replacing its $1 billion credit facility with a $350 million agreement. Consisting of a $250 million revolving line of credit and a $100 million term loan, this agreement extends the previous credit facility's April 2023 maturity date to May 2026. SEC filings do not disclose whether Citizens Bank is still involved in this agreement.