Staying strong
ANZ outperformed in the highly competitive loan markets in Australia and New Zealand, taking prominent roles in some of the standout borrowings and underwriting landmark event-driven financings.
The bank led half a dozen M&A and leveraged financings, including a A$1.82bn (US$1.36bn) loan completed in March backing the merger of HomeCo Daily Needs REIT and Aventus, for which it was the sole underwriter. The borrowing drew eight other lenders and was increased from A$1.62bn.
ANZ also was sole bookrunner on a A$210.1m loan backing Pacific Equity Partners’ leveraged buyout of weight loss product owner Cranky Health.
That followed a NZ$1.089bn borrowing ANZ closed in August that was a rare widely syndicated acquisition loan in the New Zealand market. It was one of four underwriters for a facility backing Igneo Infrastructure Partners’ acquisition of Waste Management New Zealand that attracted a dozen lenders in syndication.
In May, ANZ completed loans totalling A$1.9bn for gambling entertainment group’s Tabcorp Holdings and its demerged lotteries and Keno business, Lottery Corp. Other event-driven financings that ANZ jointly led included loans backing Australian asset manager Perpetual’s merger with its rival Pendal Group, IGO’s acquisition of nickel producer Western Areas and EBOS Group’s purchase of medical devices business LifeHealthcare.
“While market volatility has been challenging for everyone, we have been able to successfully underwrite acquisition financing through the current cycles supporting borrowers that might not have otherwise been completed,” said Gavin Chappell, head of loan syndications.
The bank did not shy away from challenging sectors still recovering from the pandemic, successfully syndicating loans for Qantas Airways and Salter Brothers Asset Management’s hotel portfolio.
Providing long-tenor liquidity at competitive pricing was another hallmark of ANZ’s performance, as it led two loans for AusNet Services totalling A$2.175bn, which included seven and 10-year tenors, and a A$1bn borrowing comprising five and seven-year tranches for APA Group.
Sustainability and green structuring roles on just over a dozen loans totalling A$10bn-equivalent across a variety of sectors added heft to ANZ’s lending. Among those were a A$1.45bn-equivalent debut green loan for PEP’s smart utility infrastructure business Intellihub, and SLLs for logistics company Brambles, explosives company Orica, electricity network Endeavour Energy and aged care service providers Opal Healthcare and Oceania Healthcare.
The bank brought new lenders from Asia to borrowers such as New Zealand’s Fletcher Building, which increased its three-year loan to A$674.5m.
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