QIC in $1.6bn green loan for smart metering acquisition, capex
All the pieces have fallen into place at Vector Metering, the smart metering play now half-owned by Queensland Investment Corporation.
Street Talk can reveal QIC Infrastructure and New Zealand-listed Vector, which owns the other half, have closed a $1.6 billion green loan which will fund part of the deal and the ongoing rollout of meters in Australia and New Zealand.
Vector Metering collects data from more than 2 million homes and businesses in Australia and NZ. Kenneth Cheung
Sources said QIC jumped through hoops to certify the loan as one used for green purposes, an important factor in the investment manager’s commitment to supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The loan attracted interest from a heavyweight syndicate of domestic and international lenders including Westpac, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and offered interest margins of 195 basis points over the bank bill swap rate. The lenders leaned on Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Bell Gully, while JP Morgan, Herbert Smith Freehills and Russell McVeagh acted for the borrower.
The deal comes after QIC Private Capital closed a 50 per cent acquisition of trans-Tasman smart meters business in late June, first flagged by Street Talk, at a $NZ2.51 billion ($2.34 billion) enterprise valuation.
The sell-side advisers pitched Vector as the largest meter provider in Australia and New Zealand, with 48 per cent of installed capacity across both markets. The unit posted $NZ172 million in earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation in the 2021 financial year and had 2.3 million electricity and gas
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