Herbert Smith Freehills has advised a consortium made up of Marubeni Corporation, POSCO and China Steel Corporation on the US$7.2 billion debt package secured by the Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The consortium has a 30% interest in the Roy Hill project.
The US$7.2 billion debt package is comprised of loans and guarantees from five export credit agencies (Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Korea Eximbank, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and Export-Import Bank of the United States) and a consortium of 19 commercial banks from Australia, Japan, Europe, China, Korea and Singapore.
The long term debt package completes the funding package for the US$10 billion Roy Hill project, which has so far been funded by equity contributions from the shareholders of Roy Hill, including more than A$4 billion committed by the consortium members.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partners Shane Kyriakou, Martin MacDonald and Belinda Fan, supported by Senior Associates Myra Stirling, Melanie Chan and Christine Joo, Solicitors Nicholas Gowans and Brodie Same, and a large number of finance, energy and resources, and corporate lawyers from the Herbert Smith Freehills network.
Herbert Smith Freehills partner Shane Kyriakou said:
“We have been working with the consortium members in relation to the Roy Hill project for a number of years now, and we are delighted to work with the consortium on this phase. This is the largest ever mining sector project financing worldwide, and achieving this milestone is a testament to the hard work of the consortium members, Hancock Prospecting, and the quality of the Roy Hill project.”
