ICBC (Asia) contributes $49.93 million AUD to the $334.71 million AUD term loan tranche of a $558.77 million AUD syndicated loan for the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm (MWF) Refinancing Project

Project narrative

On June 27, 2013, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of seven lenders — including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC (Asia)) — entered into a $558.77 million AUD ($519.03 million USD) syndicated loan agreement with Wind Macarthur Finco Pty Ltd (WMFPL) — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by Malaysian utility company Malakoff Corporation Berhad — for the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm (MWF) Refinancing Project. The loan was divided into three tranches: a $334.71 million AUD ($310.91 million USD) term loan tranche with a maturity period of five years and one month (approximately 5.087 years) and a final maturity date of July 28, 2018; a $174.12 million AUD ($161.74 million USD) export credit facility from Eksport Kredit Fonden, and a $49.93 million AUD ($46.38 million USD) government loan from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. This loan was senior debt and was secured (collateralized). ICBC (Asia) contributed $49.93 million AUD ($46.38 million USD), ING Group N.V. contributed $69.91 million AUD ($64.94 million USD), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) ($85.04 million AUD; $78.99 million USD), National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) ($69.91 million AUD), and Shinsei Bank ($59.92 million AUD; $55.66 million USD) to the $334.71 million AUD term loan tranche. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower to refinance a 50% stake in the Macarthur Wind Farm (MWF) held by Meridian Wind Macarthur Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Energy Ltd, that was being simultaneously acquired by Malakoff Corporation Berhad. At the time of refinancing, the MWF was the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere; it consisted of 140 turbines with a total capacity of 420 megawatts. MWF was developed by a joint venture between Meridian Wind Macarthur Pty Limited and Macarthur Wind Farm Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Energy Ltd. MWF became fully operational in January 2013. MWF generates enough energy to power 220,000 households in Victoria annually. In June 2018, WMFPL entered into a syndicated facility agreement for a $502 million AUD seven-year term loan facility to refinance its existing loan with lenders including ING Bank (Australia) Ltd, the Singapore Branch of Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), Mizuho Bank Ltd, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, the Sydney Branch of BNP Paribas, and Blackrock Real Assets.