Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 17, 2014, a syndicate of four banks entered into a $1.466 billion AUD syndicated loan agreement with Astra SLR Finance Pty Limited — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle jointly owned by Australian superannuation fund First State Super (62.5% equity stake), British investor, developer, and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects John Laing Group plc (32.5% equity stake), and Spanish multinational conglomerate Acciona, SA (5% equity stake) — for the Sydney Light Rail (SLR) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Project. Financial close was achieved on February 25, 2015, with a fifth bank joining. Syndication was launched in March 2015. Then, circa May 11, 2015, syndication was closed, with 12 banks — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) — joining the $1.554 billion AUD ($1.22529 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement, raising the number of lenders to 17. The miniperm loan was divided into two tranches: a $1.46698 billion AUD ($1.15668 trillion USD) term loan tranche and a $87.03 million AUD ($68.62 million USD) debt service reserve facility tranche. The loan carried a maturity period of seven years, a final maturity date of February 25, 2022, and an interest rate of BBSY plus a margin of 200 basis points (bps). Record ID#110783 captures ICBC's contribution to the $1.46698 billion AUD term loan tranche. Record ID#110789 captures ICBC's contribution to the $87.03 million AUD debt service reserve facility tranche. The proceeds were used by the borrower to the finance SRL PPP project which sought to 1) design, construct, commission, operate, and maintain a new 12-kilometer long, 19-stop dual-track light rail line, known as the CBD and South East Light Rail (CSELR), stretching from the Central Business District (CDB) and south-east Sydney that would run from Circular Quay through Surry Hills to Sydney Central Station on George Street, and then Moore Park before dividing to serve via Alison Road and High Street the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick as the L2 Randwick Line and, via via Anzac Parade, Kensington and the University of New South Wales in Kingsford as L3 Kingsford Line featuring 19 stops, a bridge over the Eastern Distributor roadway facilitate access to Randwick, Kensington, and Kingsford, a tunnel underneath Moore Park, with associated light rail vehicles (LRVs), namely 30 of ALSTOM's 67-metre coupled pairs that could carry 450 people each, control center facilities, terminus facilities, interchanges, substations, and depots for the maintenance and stabling of the LRVs as well as public domain works including a pedestrian zone in George Street from Hunter Street to Bathurst Street and modifications of existing public roads, footpaths, and cycle ways, utility services, and private properties, under a concession operating until 2034; and 2) operate and maintain, under a 25-year concession, the existing 12.9-kilometer (8.0 mile) 23-stop Inner West Light Rail line stretching from the Inner West/Central Station to Dulwich Hill known as the L1 Dulwich Hill Line, the original line of the SLR network that began services in 1997 with its final 5.6-kilometer section opening in 2014 (the SRL PPP, therefore, managed the entire 25 kilometers long SLR). Travel time on CSELR portion was to be from 37.5 to 38.5 minutes for 97% of the time. On July 2, 2015, ALTRAC Light Rail took over the operation and maintenance of the Inner West Light Rail network. Construction began in October 2015. The L2 Randwick Line opened on December 14, 2019. The L3 Kingsford Line opened on April 3, 2020. Then, on July 4, 2019, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of 18 banks — including ICBC — entered into a $1.55401 billion AUD ($1.09351 billion USD) syndicated loan agreement with Astra SLR Finance Pty Limited for the 2019 Sydney Light Rail (SLR) PPP Refinancing Project. The loan carried a maturity period of seven years and a final maturity date of July 4, 2026. The loan was divided into two tranches: a $1.46698 billion AUD ($1.03227 billion USD) term loan tranche and a $87.03 million AUD ($61.24 million USD) debt service reserve facility tranche. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower to refinance the existing debt on the Sydney Light Rail PPP Project. ICBC contributed $74.70 million AUD ($52.56 million USD) to the $1.46698 billion AUD term loan tranche, as captured by Record ID#110790. ICBC contributed $4.43 million AUD ($3.12 million USD) to the $87.03 million AUD debt service reserve facility tranche, as captured by Record ID#110791. Then, on July 2, 2021, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of five banks — including ICBC — entered into a $717.20 million AUD ($535.50 million USD) syndicated green loan agreement with Astra SLR Finance Pty Limited for the 2021 Sydney Light Rail (SLR) PPP Refinancing Project. The loan carried a maturity period of 12 years and 2 months (12.166 years) and a final maturity date of September 16, 2033 and was divided into a $697.00 million AUD ($520.42 million USD) tranche and a $20.20 million AUD ($15.08 million USD) tranche. The refinancing loan qualified as a green loan because, among other things, the SLR Project was expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 663,000 tons over 30 years. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to refinance the existing debt of SLR Project and were fully drawn down for that purpose on July 2, 2021. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed to this syndicated loan: Crédit Agricole Group, Mizuho Financial Group (MHFG), CaixaBank, S.A., and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). ICBC, Crédit Agricole, Mizuho, and CaixaBank each contributed $89.22 million AUD ($66.62 million USD) to the $697 million AUD tranche, while CBA contributed $340.10 million AUD ($253.94 million USD). ICBC, Crédit Agricole, Mizuho, and CaixaBank, each contributed $2.58 million AUD ($1.93 million USD) to the $20.20 million AUD tranche, while CBA contributed $9.86 million AUD ($7.36 million USD). Record ID#93867 captures ICBC's $89.22 million AUD contribution to the $697 million AUD tranche. Record ID#93868 captures ICBC's $2.58 million AUD to the $20.20 million AUD tranche.