Herbert Smith Freehills advises ACEN Australia on A$150m green loan facilities to facilitate renewable energy projects

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised ACEN Australia on bilateral green loan facilities with each of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) for a combined amount of A$150 million (Facility Agreements).

The Facility Agreements build on the existing A$277 million of funding from Bank of China (in Manila and Hong Kong), CTBC Bank (in Manila and Singapore) and Standard Chartered Bank in Australia under a syndicated facility, A$140m funding from MUFG Bank, A$100m funding from DBS Bank and A$75m funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which Herbert Smith Freehills also advised ACEN Australia on. Together, the financing will enable ACEN Australia to fund and facilitate its pipeline of renewable energy projects in Australia following on from successful construction of the 400MW first stage of the New England Solar Farm in New South Wales.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Gerard Pike (Projects, Energy & Infrastructure), senior associate Andrew Julian and solicitor, Hayden Shamoi (Finance).

Gerard Pike said: “ACEN Australia’s new green loan facilities with ANZ and Westpac mark a significant milestone for all parties involved. This strategic collaboration, complemented by existing financing, equips ACEN Australia with a really strong foundation to advance the development and construction of its impressive portfolio of renewable energy projects in Australia. We are excited to continue our partnership with ACEN Australia and ACEN Corporation in Australasia.”

With this deal, Herbert Smith Freehills continues to demonstrate its leadership in the green loan space, having also recently advised:

• QIC in relation to the acquisition of the Vector smart meters business, which included A$1.6 billion green loan and green capex facilities. The financing was the first Use of Proceeds Certification globally under the Climate Bonds Standard Version 4.0 and was the largest Climate Bonds Certified green bank loan aligned with the Climate Bonds’ Electrical Grids and Storage eligibility criteria at the time.
• ISPT Pty Ltd (ISPT) on the restructure of A$2.8b in bank facilities to sustainability linked loan facilities for its flagship fund, the ISPT Core Fund.
• AGL Energy Limited as borrower on its innovative A$600m sustainability-linked syndicated loan facility - the first of its kind issued by an Australian energy company in the Asia-Pacific region. The deal was awarded ‘Most Innovative Deal’ at FinanceAsia’s 2019 Achievement Awards in Australia and New Zealand.
• Celsus and its owners on the A$2.2 billion debt refinancing of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital Project. The project is the first operational infrastructure project in Australia to achieve a refinancing that is certified as compliant with both Green Loan Principles and Social Loan Principles.
• eleven lenders, including BNP Paribas, HSBC and Westpac as joint sustainability coordinators, in relation to the refinancing of A$1.4 billion of existing debt facilities, and the inclusion of sustainability linked loan frameworks into these existing facilities, for Treasury Wine Estates Limited.