Assured Guaranty Wraps Port of Brisbane Bond Issuance

Assured Guaranty (Europe) plc (AGE)* announced that it guaranteed principal and interest payments on $100 million Australian dollars of bonds issued by QPH Finance Co Pty Limited, the primary bond issuer for the Port of Brisbane in Australia. The bond issuance is to refinance existing facilities and for general corporate purposes at the Port of Brisbane.

The 25-year fixed-rate bonds were recently issued to a group of South Korean investors, of which DB Life Insurance Co., Ltd was the largest single investor, at a coupon of 4.71% as a private placement. AGE’s credit protection was provided on a secondary market basis for the ultimate benefit of those investors, simultaneously with the bond issuance. As a result of the financial guarantee provided by AGE, the investors were able to benefit from AGE’s AA rating from S&P Global Ratings.

The Port of Brisbane is the largest multi-cargo port in the state of Queensland.

Dominic Nathan, Managing Director, AGE, commented:

"This is a significant transaction for AGE in the Australian market, and our first new deal in Australia since the global financial crisis. We are delighted to have marked our return by guaranteeing a debt issuance by the operators of such a vitally important piece of infrastructure as the Port of Brisbane. We expect to replicate our success on this transaction with other Australian infrastructure or utility companies that seek to take advantage of our long term and cost-effective funding solution.”

Nick Proud, Chief Executive Officer of AGE, commented:

"The transaction provides evidence of AGE’s ability to innovate and add value in new markets. Our credit analysis and risk monitoring expertise across a number of jurisdictions and asset classes, coupled with the significant regulatory capital savings generated by AGE’s credit protection, facilitates the participation of investors in Asia in the international infrastructure and utility debt capital markets. This ultimately opens up a new universe of potential investors for issuers like the Port of Brisbane.”

AGE guarantees timely payment of scheduled principal and interest to bondholders throughout the life of the bonds, in accordance with the terms of its financial guarantees.

The legal advisers of AGE on the transaction were White & Case (Sydney) and Linklaters (London). Sydney based DTW Capital Solutions provided financial advice and Allen & Overy provided legal advice to the investors.