Norton Rose Fulbright has acted for the financiers – Banco Santander, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Agricole CIB Australia, The Bank of Nova Scotia Asia and United Overseas Bank – on the successful ALTRAC Light Rail Consortium bid for the Sydney Light Rail PPP project. The contract for this project reached financial close on 25 February 2015.

ALTRAC Light Rail, which comprised Alstom Transport Australia, Transdev, Acciona and Capella Capital, will deliver and operate the new CBD and South East light rail in Sydney.

The NSW Government officially awarded the contract to design, construct, operate and maintain the project to ALTRAC on December 17. This followed the announcement by NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian on October 23 on the preferred bidder to deliver and operate the project. Major construction is expected to finish in 2018.

Norton Rose Fulbright Melbourne-based Partner Jo Crew, who led the team advising the financiers, said the challenging nature of the competitive bid required legal advisors with extensive knowledge of the PPP market, both locally and in comparative jurisdictions, and an understanding of how to deliver bankable outcomes to financiers.

“This project has been a complex deal, both from a deliverability and financing perspective, with multiple interfaces and stakeholders,” she said. “We are incredibly proud to have been involved.”

The team advising the Financiers was led by Ms Crew and included banking and finance Special Counsel Joanna Taylor and Senior Associates Claire Whitney and Catherine Bendeich.