Global legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright has advised rail infrastructure provider Brookfield Rail on its successful US s144A Private Placement (USPP).

The placement consisted of three $US tranches of senior secured notes – for 7 years, 10 years and 12 years respectively – totalling US$485 million. It also included a refinancing of syndicated bank facilities totalling $100 million. The USPP transaction, which closed on July 16, was heavily oversubscribed and taken up by 18 note investors.

The placement agents for the USPP were Japanese banks SMBC, BTMU and Mizuho. This is understood to be the first ever issuance for those banks into the US bond market by a non-Japanese issuer.

Brookfield Rail operates approximately 5,100km of standard, narrow and dual gauge rail infrastructure in the southern half of Western Australia that serves as a crucial transport link in the region. This is the only rail network in the region connecting WA to the rest of the country and providing access to markets for minerals and grain through six government-owned ports.

Brookfield praised Norton Rose Fulbright in Australia for a completely seamless and smooth transaction and closing process.

Brookfield Australia senior lawyer Nick Britten-Jones said lead partner Alen Pazin and his Perth-based team “were able to draw on their strong understanding of our business to work with us to achieve another successful refinancing in both domestic and offshore markets. The team worked seamlessly and assisted us in closing in a short timeframe."

This was Norton Rose Fulbright’s second USPP for Brookfield Rail in the last 18 months, and the third significant financing instruction for the group in the last three years.