ICTSI signs Australian loan facility for new Melbourne terminal
Describing it as “an early victory for one of ICTSI’s most anticipated container terminal projects,” the Philippine terminal operator today signed an A$398m ($300m) loan facility for its planned Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT). The loan was signed with seven financial institutions: Citibank, KFW IPEX-Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of China, DBS Bank, Investec Bank and Cathay United Bank.
The facility has long-dated tenors of seven, 10, and 16 years.
Finnvera, the Finland based export credit agency, also participated in the transaction by providing a guarantee for a portion of the facility.
“The newly-secured financing will support the on-going construction and development of VICT at Webb Dock East in the Port of Melbourne, Australia,” ICTSI said in a release today.
Construction of the terminal commenced in late 2014, and will be completed in two phases. Phase One will be ready for commercial operations in Q4 2016 and Phase Two will be available in 2017.
“The VICT deal has pushed the project finance envelope in Australia on a number of aspects, and this has made the process quite challenging. Thanks to the collaborative effort put in together with our lending partners, we achieved a final debt structure that positions VICT for both short and long term financial strength,” said ICTSI corporate finance director Manuel Pascua.
