Aug 2023
Conyers acted as special Cayman Islands legal counsel to the joint Sustainability Structuring Agents, HSBC, Crédit Agricole CIB and Deutsche Bank, and the mandated lead arrangers including DBS, ING, Morgan Stanley and MUFG, in connection with the AU$4.6 billion multi-currency sustainability-linked loan (SLL) of the AirTrunk group of companies, a leading provider of hyperscale data centres in the Asia-Pacific and Japan.
The transaction was the largest loan deal in the Australian market in 2023 and the largest SLL for a data centre operator globally at the time when the transaction completed. The loan will be used to refinance AirTrunk’s existing debt facilities and support the company’s rapid expansion across the region.
AirTrunk is firmly committed to environmental and social responsibility. The borrower ensures the highest level of environmental transparency and accountability for a data centre operator through employing the combination of carbon usage effectiveness (CUE), operating power usage effectiveness (PUE), operating water usage effectiveness (WUE), gender diversity and gender pay equity as their innovative key performance indicators. This SLL, therefore, sets industry benchmarks in sustainability financing.
Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS, Deutsche Bank, ING, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and MUFG operated as mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners and underwriters. For the SLL refinancing, HSBC, Crédit Agricole CIB and Deutsche Bank operated as joint sustainability structuring agents.
Director Preetha Pillai and Paralegal Fadhilah Tan advised on the matter working alongside Gilbert + Tobin, Linklaters, Shook Lin & Bok LLP and Zul Rafique.
Preetha Pillai, Head of Singapore Office and Director said: “We’re absolutely proud to be part of this first-of-its-kind SLL to support sustainable growth and ESG. We look forward to continue our work in green finance.”
This matter has been nominated as “Deal of the Year – Loan” by IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024.