Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 18, 2023, financial close was reached on a deal in which a three-bank syndicate — the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), and Westpac Banking Corporation — entered into a $300.00 million AUD ($201.41 million USD) syndicated green loan agreement with Plenary Conventions Pty Ltd — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) wholly owned by Australia's Plenary Group — for the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Eventre Centre Precinct Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project. This was a green loan and as such was aligned to green loan principles. Each lender contributed $100.00 million AUD ($67.14 million USD) to the loan syndicate. In addition to the debt, the City of Great Geelong provided $3.00 million AUD ($2.01 million USD) in funding, the Government of Australia provided $30.00 million AUD ($20.14 million USD), and the State Government of Victoria ($423.00 million AUD; $283.99 million USD). Plenary provided 100% of the equity financing for the convention centre, hotel, and mixed-use precinct. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower to construct the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre on the Geelong waterfront in Wadawurrung Country. The development consisted of the Nyaal Banyul Geelong convention center consisting of a 1000-seat purpose-built convention and exhibition center, two large exhibition spaces, conference facilities, and flexible event and meeting spaces and a commercial development of a $120 million AUD 200-room Crowne Plaza Hotel (which would be Geelong's largest) invested by Plenary Conventions and a $130 million AUD mixed-used development with retail spaces for food and beverage, a large public plaza, a commercial office tower, and a 1.6 hectare waterfront car parking site. The project was expected to support 1,450 jobs during construction and create 700 jobs upon completion. The project was expected to improve Geelong's tourism allure. The Plenary Conventions consortium won the bidding to design, build, finance, and maintain the precinct for a 25-year concession period. The consortium consisted of the following members: Plenary Group as sponsor, investor, and asset manager; Built Holdings Pty Ltd as the builder; BGIS as facilities management services contractor; Woods Bagot as design and architecture lead; and WSP as a engineering contractor (providing building services, vertical transportation, information and communication technology, audio-visual and security, sustainability, specialist lighting, fire engineering, traffic engineering, waste management, and circular economy services. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust would operate the centre upon its completion. In May 2022, Development Victoria opened Expression of Interests (EOIs) for the project. In August 2022, the State Government of Victoria announced the short-list bidders for the project. In July 2023, it announced that Plenary Conventions consortium was the preferred bidder. Financial close was then in December 2023. The project has a scheduled commercial operations date of 2026. Construction began in January 2024.