Allens has advised Qtectic on the refinancing of Queensland's New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) train project, which sees the project become the second public private partnership (PPP) in Australia to be financed through a certified green loan.
As part of the refinancing, Qtectic - the borrower and project consortium comprised of John Laing, Itochu, Aberdeen Standards Investments and Alstom - secured certification of the project's debt facilities under the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association's Green Loan Principles and the Climate Bond Initiative's Low Carbon Transport Criteria.
The $4.4 billion New Generation Rollingstock project is the largest single investment in trains by the Queensland Government, involving the delivery of 75 six-carriage electric multiple units. Qtectic is responsible for the delivery of the train fleet and for its maintenance for 30 years under the PPP agreement.
'We are pleased to have advised Qtectic on this important sustainability milestone for the NGR project, continuing our work together throughout the life of the project,' said lead Partner Scott McCoy.
'There is growing appetite to formalise the sustainability credentials of project financing arrangements, and we expect to see more and more clients - and their stakeholders - requesting green loan certification.'
Macquarie Capital was financial adviser, and the syndicate of banks included ANZ, CBA, Mizuho, CIBC, NAB, MUFG, SMBC and Société Générale, advised by Herbert Smith Freehills. CBA was the Green Loan Coordinator.
Allens is a leading adviser on green and sustainability-linked loans, and last year advised the lenders on Australia's first PPP green loan, the refinancing of Canberra Metro's syndicated facility. The firm has also advised on multiple other sustainability-linked loans and green bond issuances, including loans to Sydney Airport, the first syndicated sustainability-linked loan in the Australian market.
Allens legal team
Scott McCoy (Partner), Nicholas Ng (Partner), Sunny Jong (Senior Associate), Natalie Soh (Associate), Akaash Singh (Associate), Angela Lambros (Law Graduate)