G+T has advised Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Citibank, N.A on a Rule 144A offering of circa US$350 million second lien senior notes due 2026 to be issued by Coronado Finance Pty Ltd (Coronado), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Coronado Global Resources Inc. (Coronado Global) as well as a US$100 million asset backed loan facility.

Coronado used the net proceeds from this offering to restructure its debt obligations, repay existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.

Coronado Global is one of the largest Met coal producers globally by export volume and owns a portfolio of operating mines and development projects in Queensland, as well as in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the United States.

The transaction involved an extraordinarily complex range of cross border issues relating to the implementation of New York law intercreditor arrangements to sit alongside and within Coronado’s existing Australian law security and intercreditor arrangements with Stanwell Corporation and New York and Australian law insolvency and security priority regimes.

G+T provided Australian law advice to both US lender counsels (acting for 1st and 2nd lien creditor classes) on all aspects of the transaction, including tax, regulatory, resources, mining, native title, AML, foreign exchange, insolvency and sanctions input.

After what has been a difficult period for producers in the metallurgical coal sector, the transaction improved Coronado’s capital structure by providing it more financial flexibility, extending its debt maturity profile, diversifying its funding base and reducing its net debt and showcased G+T’s ability to advise on a diverse and complex range of debt structuring solutions and refinancing mechanics implemented to ensure the best outcome for all parties involved.

The G+T team was led by partner Robert Trowbridge with special counsel Louise McCoach leading the Notes workstream.

Robert commented, “We were pleased to support our client on this significant refinancing. This has left Coronado very well placed to deliver value to stakeholders as the global economy continues to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for steelmaking coal continues to improve.”

Robert and Louise were supported by partner Peter Bowden, special counsel Anna Schwartz, lawyers Lisa Hamilton and Patrick Foote and consultant Lukasz Napieraj.