The deal also involves several global banking giants
Baker McKenzie has advised multinational investment bank HSBC on the establishment of a $1.5bn multi-currency syndicated sustainability-linked loan facility for Sydney-based hospital network Ramsay Health Care.
The transaction involved a lending syndicate of more than 20 global financial institutions, including banking giants National Australia Bank (NAB), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and Japan-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).
“The financing was oversubscribed and was supported by a wide range of Australian, Asian, European, and North American lenders, which is testament to the ever-growing lender interest in financing sustainability-linked loans,” said Alastair Gourlay, Baker McKenzie’s lead partner on the deal.
“We have seen a significant uptick in sustainability-linked loans in the past 18 months,” he added. “Where previously CEOs, CFOs, and boards would ask ‘why should I do a sustainability-linked loan?’, that question now needs to be ‘why am I not doing a sustainability-linked loan?’ given the ever-increasing spotlight that institutional investors are putting on ESG targets, as well as the credit and reputational enhancements that corporates are achieving by putting in place sustainability-linked loans.”
Baker McKenzie acted as sole capital structuring and sustainable finance advisor for HSBC with a team that also includes Miles Hurst, Adam Jeffrey, Emily Tsoi and Shakti Srikanth in Australia, and Matthew Smith, Lola Oni, and Holly Bradley from the firm’s London office.
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), meanwhile, acted as advisor for Ramsay Health Care.
