Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On May 31, 2013, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of four banks — the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC (Asia)), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) — entered into a $140.85 million AUD ($135.16 million USD syndicated loan agreement with Waterloo Wind Farm Pty Ltd — a special purpose vehicle jointly owned by Australian infrastructure fund manager Palisade Investment Partners (55.5% equity stake), Canada-based global private equity firm Northleaf Capital Partners (19.5% equity stake), and EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based and listed China Light and Power (CLP Group) (25% equity stake) — for the 111 MW Waterloo Wind Farm Refinancing and Acquisition Project. This asset-based non-recourse loan had a maturity of five years. ICBC (Asia), CBA, SMBC, and BTMU each contributed $35.21 million AUD ($33.79 million USD) to this syndicated loan. All lenders served as mandated lead arrangers. CBA served as facility agent and security trustee. The proceeds of this loan were used for the $228 million AUD May 2013 acquisition by Palisade and Northleaf of a 75% stake in the wind farm from EnergyAustralia, to refinance the 111 MW Waterloo Wind Farm Project upon the acquisition, as well as to act as a potential expansion facility for a planned 18 MW expansion of the Waterloo Wind Farm. Palisade contributed $48.38 million AUD ($46.42 million USD) and Northleaf contributed $17.00 million AUD ($16.31 million USD) to the acquisition and refinancing. EnergyAustralia retained a 25% stake in the wind farm and contributed $21.79 million AUD ($20.91 million USD) towards the refinancing. The 111 MW Waterloo Wind Farm, located near Clare, South Australia, has been in operation since October 2010. It consists of 37 Vestas V90-3.0MW turbines that generate energy equivalent to the consumption over 50,000 homes in South Australia and reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by 335,000 tons. In June 2013, the Clare and Gilbert Valley Council issued development plan consent for the planned wind farm expansion of six more turbines. In March 2015, later sold its remaining 25% equity interest in the wind farm to Palisade and Northleaf, alongside the development rights to expansion of the Waterloo Wind Farm. In November 2015, the $43 million AUD expansion was planned to start construction in 2016. However, the funding was from Palisade and Northleaf; it appears the $139.6 million AUD syndicated loan was not used towards the expansion. The expansion, consisting of six new Vestas V117 wind turbines and an additional 19.MW in generation capacity was, nonetheless, completed in November 2016. In November 2014, Palisade entered into an agreement with BTMU and SMBC to refinance the May 2013 loan with a $136 million AUD ($116.8 million USD) five-year project loan. BTMU and SMBC committed equally to the refinancing, and CBA retained its role as facility agent and security trustee. The refinancing included a 65 basis points (bps) reduction in the interest rate's margins.
Staff comments
1. There is a dedicated website for this project: https://waterloowindfarm.com.au/. 2. AidData has coded this transaction as a collateralized loan because Commonwealth Bank of Australia was selected as the security trustee (i.e. collateral agent) for the loan. When lenders take collateral as security for their loans, a collateral/security agent is often appointed to enforce rights against the collateral in the event of the borrower’s default under the loan.