Login
Strategic turning point for power producer’s investment in Aus
Financial close has been successfully reached for two gas-fired power station projects owned by RATCH-Australia.
Melissa Coade
Firms: Squire Patton Boggs (RATCH-Australia Corporation Limited); King & Wood Mallesons (Lenders)
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Deal: Project financing for two of RATCH-Australia’s gas-fired power stations have reached financial close.
Value: Undsiclosed
Area: Finance
Key players: The team advising RATCH was led by SPB partner Hai-Dang Nguyen, who was supported by Stuart Stevens, Clive Lee, Sam Smart, Fiona Ellett, Greg de Mesquita, Kevin Lee, Chris Steenson and David Kim.
KWM advised the bank syndicate which acted as the lenders, with a team led by partner Mark Upfold.
Deal significance: Financial close for the project financing of two gas-fired power stations in Kemerton and Townsville was reached on 4 May 2018.
The six banks which formed the final syndicate to act as lender for the project financing were Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Standard Charter Bank, ING, OCBC and ANZ.
RATCH-Australia is an independent power producer in Australia and owns an increasing portfolio of power generation assets, generating more than 815 MW, a statement released by law firm SPB said.
The company is owned by Thailand’s largest independent power generation company, Ratchaburi Electricity Generation Holding PCL.
According to SPB partner Hai-Dang Nguyen (pictured), who acted as deal counsel for RATCH-Australia, the transaction was complex and had features not seen before in the Australian market. He said that it was an honour to have participated in the beginning of a new chapter for RATCH-Australia.
“We look forward to seeing their new Collector Wind Farm and other energy projects take off in the near future,” Mr Nguyen said.
General Counsel for RATCH-Australia, Simon Greenacre, commended Mr Nguyen’s commitment to closing such complex deal and with the time constraints involved.
“The complexity of the transaction — with a combination of a hybrid financing structure, existing and new security, a corporate restructure, minority shareholder buyout and a comparatively large lending syndicate — and the short time available to complete it required both expertise breadth and resourcing depth,” Mr Greenacre said.
“Under Hai-Dang’s leadership and strong commitment to closing the deal, the Squire team was able to deliver both”.
Chief financial officer of RATCH-Australia Polagorn Kheosiplard echoed the sentiment, noting that the financing was a “critical component” of the company’s future plans in Australia.
“[This financing] will unleash our investment and development capacity in Australia,” Mr Kheosiplard said.
“We are delighted that despite the complexity of the financing and the compressed timetable things fell into place and the transaction closed on schedule.”
