G+T helps juice up Ausgrid with billion-dollar refinancing

Lenders continue to be keen to support quality infrastructure assets, lead partner says

G+T helps juice up Ausgrid with billion-dollar refinancing

A team from Gilbert + Tobin (G+T) has confirmed its role in helping to juice up Ausgrid via a $1.525bn refinancing.

The firm guided a significant syndicate of banks, both local and international, on the refinancing of the major east coast electricity distributor’s senior bank facilities. Under the deal, a new common terms deed platform was set up, and terms “applying to an additional $3.175bn of senior bank facilities” were renegotiated.

G+T said that the transaction “demonstrates Ausgrid’s ability to achieve highly competitive financing terms while diversifying the maturity profile of its senior bank facilities.”

“This transaction demonstrates that recent volatility in the debt markets has not impacted lender appetite for supporting and investing in quality infrastructure assets, as evidenced by the strength of Ausgrid’s banking relationships,” lead partner and banking + projects head John Schembri explained.

Schembri was supported by lawyers Erin Cartledge, Mark Nichol and Yuka Nagata.

As the biggest electricity distributor on the east coast, Ausgrid caters to 1.7m customers across Sydney, the Hunter Valley and the Central Coast.