We advised NordLB, Bank of Ireland and European Investment Bank on the provision of €250 million of senior debt facilities to finance the delivery by the Equisisk Consortium of the first residential community healthcare public-private-partnership (PPP) which will transform local residential care across Ireland.
Co-ordinated by our banking & finance team following the selection of Equisisk as preferred bidder for the project, the financing documentation was developed from the Irish precedents available in the recent first two Irish social housing PPP projects along with the recent UK/Welsh A465 Heads of the Valleys Dualling Roads project and earlier Scottish NPD roads projects in relation to the M8/M74 and Aberdeen Western Relief road project.
Our role was to draft and negotiate all the principal senior finance documents, including a common terms agreement and a security trust and intercreditor deed, to review and report to funders (in conjunction with local law advisers) on the project agreement and related construction and operation documents, including complex construction bonding support, to review and report on all equity/sub-debt and shareholder support arrangements, and to arrange for satisfaction of all conditions precedent to financial close.
Key highlights
- Our involvement in delivering the first Irish healthcare project under the €1 billion Irish PPP programme, which is a part of the €116 billion Project Ireland 2040 Infrastructure Plan.
- Brodies' first successfully completed Irish PPP project financing, utilising its extensive UK financing expertise, after supporting bids on earlier projects under the Irish PPP programme which did not achieve preferred bidder status.
- Our detailed analysis of construction risk, given the issues presently affecting construction markets generally, and working on new structures of construction bonding to underpin the build packages.
This successful Irish deal is tangible evidence that the UK's PPP model generally remains welcome outside the UK as a method of providing critical infrastructure. Our infrastructure team much enjoyed working with Irish legal colleagues in delivering a robust financing by clients at a time of some market disruption.
Michael Stoneham, Head of Energy & Infrastructure Finance
Outcome
- Will transform local residential care across Ireland. Seven community nursing units with state of the art facilities for use by the elderly and special facilities for those with dementia.
- A successful outcome for the Equisisk consortium, comprising Equitix (a specialist Infrastructure Fund Group that Brodies has supported over recent years) and John Sisk Group (an Irish construction company that has been visible on many UK PPP projects in recent years) with its facilities management affiliate Sensori FM.
- A demonstration that the PPP model continues to be an important delivery vehicle for provision of infrastructure with private finance across much of Europe.
