Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 15, 2023, a syndicate of eight banks — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — entered into a $249.30 million AUD ($167.37 million USD) syndicated loan agreement with Canberra Metro Finance Pty Limited — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) jointly owned by Pacific Partnerships Pty Ltd. (25% equity stake), Chinese state-controlled John Holland Pty Ltd (25% equity stake), Mitsubishi Corporation (25% equity stake), and Aberdeen Infrastructure Investments Limited (25% equity stake) — for the Canberra Light Rail Stage 1 Public Private-Partnership (PPP) Project. This loan was divided into two tranches: a $237.58 million AUD ($159.50 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and a $11.72 million AUD ($7.87 million USD) debt service reserve facility tranche with a maturity period of five years and a final maturity date of December 15, 2028. This was certified as a green loan under Climate Bond Initiative under the Low Carbon Transport Criteria. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance debt associated with the Canberra Light Rail Stage 1 Project, a 12-kilometer long, 3-stop light rail system connecting the northern area of Gungahlin to Canberra's City centre in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory constructed and operated under a 20-year PPP contract by the Canberra Metro consortium by the Australian Capital Territory Government; the system began operating in April 2019. ICBC contributed $32.77 million AUD ($22.00 million USD) to the $237.58 million AUD term loan tranche, as captured by Record ID#107718. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the tranche: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) ($20.48 million AUD; $13.75 million USD), CaixaBank, S.A. ($32.77 million AUD), Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC) ($20.48 million AUD), Crédit Agricole Group ($32.77 million AUD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. ($32.77 million AUD), Société Générale S.A. (SocGen) ($32.77 million AUD), and Standard Chartered Bank plc ($32.77 million AUD). ICBC contributed $1.62 million AUD ($1.09 million USD) to the $11.72 million AUD debt service reserve facility tranche, as captured by Record ID#107719. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed to the tranche: ANZ ($1.62 million AUD), CaixaBank ($1.62 million AUD), CIC ($1.01 million AUD), Crédit Agricole Group ($1.62 million AUD), MUFG Bank, Ltd. ($1.62 million AUD), SocGen ($1.01 million AUD), and Standard Chartered Bank plc ($1.62 million AUD).