James Frixou

Special Counsel
Melbourne

Biography

James is a special counsel in our Banking and Projects group.

He has experience advising on major domestic and cross-border finance transactions in project finance, complex structured financing, property and development finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, funds finance and restructuring. In the project finance space, he has a focus on infrastructure including social and affordable housing, and other social infrastructure Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Having worked in Melbourne, London and Stockholm, James has assisted major international financiers and sponsors on complex transactions within the Australian and European loan markets. Transactions have involved negotiating syndicated, club, unitranche and bilateral facilities and complex/structured intercreditor arrangements. With experience advising senior, mezzanine and equity investors on cross-border transactions, James understands the key issues and commercial drivers of various stakeholders investing in a project or corporate group’s capital structure.

Experience

James’s experience includes advising:

  • Housing Australia to support the Tetris consortium of the GLM2 PPP (procured by Homes Victoria) to finance, design, construct, manage and maintain various social, affordable and disability housing dwellings under a 40-year state lease.

  • Wilam Marrga (Tetris led) consortium’s bid to finance, design, construct, manage and maintain the new Melton Hospital (PPP).

  • Housing Australia to support the Mission Australia/Palisade consortium’s HIF bid to finance, design, construct, manage and maintain various social and affordable housing projects in Queensland.

  • Housing Australia to support Brisbane Housing Company/QIC consortium’s HIF bid to finance, design, construct, manage and maintain various social and affordable housing projects in Queensland ($340 million debt package).

  • Plenary in connection with its ∼$3.4 billion project financing and bid of VicRoads’ registration, licensing, and custom plates business under a 40-year state concession.

  • Syndicate of 20+ lenders in connection with Whitehaven’s $6.4 billion acquisition of BHP’s met coal assets.

  • ANZ on the refinancing of the ANU SA6 Student Accommodation PPP project.

  • Syndicate of lenders to the University of Wollongong Student Accommodation PPP project on both the 2019 syndicated financing and 2021 voluntary termination of the PPP (one of the first of its kind in Australia).

  • MUFG and BBVA on the financing of the ‘Mundaring Water Treatment Plant PPP Project’ under a $224 million syndicated facility agreement.

  • Syndicate of lenders regarding the project financing and successful bid by QIC and Schiphol for a majority interest in Hobart International Airport.

  • New Century Resources Limited on its successful $180 million financing of environmental rehabilitation bonds required at its Century Mine project, which included a complex debt financing package stapled with long-term zinc hedging transactions and a successful ∼$117 million equity raise from its cornerstone investor.

  • EMR Capital on the financing of its Golden Grove copper-zinc mine in Western Australia under a US$190 million syndicated facility agreement.

  • EMR Capital on the financing and subsequent refinancings of the Lubambe copper mine in Zambia.

  • Firmus Grid on its successful debt and equity financings to fund the construction of infrastructure required for its market-leading cloud data centre technology at its flagship site in Launceston, Tasmania.

  • H.R.L. Morrison & Co (MCo) in a facility advanced by one of MCo’s managed clients to assist Singapore’s Kacific Broadband Satellites Group to fund the design, manufacture and launch of Kacific-1 - Kacific’s first satellite which launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

  • Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to assist AirTrunk to:

    • finance the construction of data centres in Singapore under SGD124m syndicated facility agreement

    • refinance its Australian operations under $180 million syndicated facility agreement. The transaction also included a complex third-ranking Holdco security structure.

  • Deutsche Bank to assist AirTrunk in financing the construction of data centres in Hong Kong under a HKD440 million senior syndicated facility agreement. The transaction also included a complex Holdco security structure.

  • Collgar Wind Farm on the refinancing of its syndicated term facilities.

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