The US private placement refinancing of Ravenhall Prison PPP in Victoria has achieved a record tenor, going out to the end of the project's concession term in 2042. This despite Ravenhall Prison not being the most straightforward of availability-based PPPs. Some pricing premium is likely to have been factored in to the refinancing given the custodial risk borne by the project company.
Australian PPP sponsors are increasingly opting for a long-term refinancing solution, rather than refreshing a mini-perm loan and retaining interest and refinancing risk. A handful of transactions in the last 12-18 months have targeted the US private placement market – a fixed-interest option with probably the longest available tenors – or floating rate loans syndicated to Japanese institutions. According to the financial adviser Tetris Capital, the Ravenhall Prison refi is the “first rated, full-tenor US private placement financing for a PPP with custodial services”, as well as being the longest tenor yet for a US private placement financing of an Australian PPP. Read the full IJ Global article here.