Deal: Allen & Overy has advised the financiers, sustainability coordinator and facility agent (the Finance Parties) on a bank guarantee facility refinancing for infrastructure and property development service provider John Holland worth $1.5 billion.

Value: $1.5 billion.

Area: Finance, infrastructure.

Key players: The A&O team was led by Sydney partner Adam Stapledon supported by senior associate Andrew Daidone and lawyer Vivienne Zhang. The Sydney team was supported by a Hong Kong team led by partner Roger Lui supported by lawyers Dan Lu and Jack Bai.

Deal significance: This deal is the largest sustainability-linked bonding facilities to be arranged in Australia to date and one of the largest to successfully close in the Asia-Pacific region this year. 

The loan is guaranteed by China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), a Chinese state-owned infrastructure construction company. The Sydney branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC Sydney) and National Australia Bank acted as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners for the facility, with HSBC Sydney acting as sustainability coordinator. 

Lead partner Adam Stapledon commented: “We congratulate John Holland and its financiers on successfully closing one of the largest sustainability-linked bonding facilities in the Asia Pacific region this year. 

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“Sustainability-linked debt is becoming increasingly prominent in the Australian market, and around the globe. This transaction drew on A&O’s extensive local and regional experience on a number of other green and sustainability linked transactions in both the bank loan and debt capital markets context and across a range of different sectors including infrastructure, energy, real estate, government and financial services.”