John Schembri

Biography

John leads our Banking and Projects group and is a member of our board.

He is highly regarded in the Australian market for his exceptional work and unmatched expertise in acquisition, leveraged, corporate, real estate, infrastructure and project finance.  

He acts for both sponsors and lenders and on secured, unsecured, syndicated, and club loan arrangements. John has successfully handled major transactions using bank, stretch senior, institutional, TLB, unitranche, cov-lite, holdco PIK, mezzanine and capital markets financing products. 

Recognised by both clients and peers as a standout lawyer with unparalleled market connections, John is frequently sought after for high-value, market-leading transactions.

Experience

John’s experience includes advising:

  • Deutsche Bank on the multi-billion dollar syndicated facilities for AirTrunk’s hyper-scale data centres across Australasia and on the acquisition by Macquarie of an 88% stake in AirTrunk.

  • The bank syndicates in relation to the $3.5 billion debt facilities to fund the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro power station and the financing of the Western Sydney Airport.

  • MLAUBs in connection with EIG’s joint bid with Brookfield for Origin Energy. This was the most significant proposed deal of 2023, labelled the "400-day takeover of the decade".

  • MLAUBs on the provision of a new debt funding platform for EIG, to facilitate the establishment of an LNG platform, initially comprising certain projects to be acquired from Tokyo Gas.

  • The lending syndicate of 16 banks globally for the Destination Brisbane Consortium in a role that secured $1.6 billion in debt funding for the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane integrated resort development in central Brisbane.

  • KKR on the financing of its $1.7 billion acquisition of a 55% interest in each of Colonial First State Investments as well as KKR’s acquisitions of MYOB, Laser Clinics, Arnotts, Education Perfect and Perpetual.

  • TPG on the multi-billion financings of its leveraged acquisitions of Novotech, Inova, Greencross and Invocare.

  • MIRA and Aware Super on the financing of their $3.6 billion acquisition of Vocus Group and the subsequent NZ$1.4 billion acquisition 2Degrees and Orcon.

  • Westpac, MUFG and SMBC (MLAUBs) in relation to the financing of the $2.35 billion acquisition by Aurizon of freight rail group One Rail Australia.

  • The financiers on the senior secured debt funding of the $10.3 billion privatisation of electricity distributor TransGrid by way of a 99-year lease, as well as the financing of Transgid’s numerous capexm, bilateral and working capital facilities.

  • The financiers on the multi-billion dollar senior secured debt funding of the Ausgrid, as well as its ongoing capex and working capital requirements.

  • The lender syndicate on the $950 million refinancing of Port of Newcastle’s syndicated debt facilities, including a new innovative green loan and sustainability linked loan structure.

Awards and Recognition

  • Best Lawyers 2025

    Asset Finance Law, Aviation Law, Banking & Finance Law, Construction/Infrastructure Law, Distressed Investing & Debt Trading, Energy Law, Equipment Finance Law, Insolvency & Reorganisation Law, Leveraged Buyouts, Private Equity Law, Project Finance and Development, Structured Finance Law, Trade and Finance Law, Trade Law & Venture Capital Law

  • Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024

    Ranked Band 1 for Banking & Finance: Acquisition Finance and Banking & Finance: Corporate Finance Ranked for Project Finance

  • The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024

    ‘Hall of Fame’ lawyer for Banking and Finance and leading lawyer for Project Finance