Brisbane Airport in oversubscribed A$600m debt raising

The airport, which is majority-owned by Australian superannuation funds, claims to have attracted A$1.4bn worth of investor interest. It will use proceeds to repay maturing bank facilities and fund capital expenditure.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC), which has a 99-year lease over Brisbane Airport, has completed a A$600 million (€442 million; $648 million) debt raising exercise to repay maturing bank facilities and fund capital expenditure and working capital. BAC is 81 percent-owned by Australian superannuation (pension) funds.

BAC launched a A$400 million US Private Placement (USPP) and A$200 million of A$ medium-term notes (MTN) on 23 March 2011. The USPP comprised two equal US$150 million tranches and one A$100 million tranche with tenors of 10, 12 and 15 years respectively. The A$MTN issue comprised one 8-year tranche of A$200 million.  

A statement issued by RBC Capital Markets, which acted as sole financial adviser to BAC, said that there had been over A$1.4 billion of investor interest in the issues, which was “considerably higher than anticipated”.

The statement also noted that the A$MTN was the longest-tenor unwrapped airport transaction yet completed in the market.

In a statement of its own, BAC said it currently has A$1.7 billion of borrowings and “expects to raise further funds in both markets in coming years to repay maturing credit-wrapped bonds and fund future infrastructure investment”.