<article>Temasek-backed Clifford Capital on Wednesday said it has priced Asia&#8217;s first infrastructure project finance securitisation issue with a pre-assembled portfolio of $458 million, according to a statement.</article>

Temasek-backed Clifford Capital on Wednesday said it has priced Asia&#8217;s first infrastructure project finance securitisation issue with a pre-assembled portfolio of $458 million, according to a statement.
Bayfront Infrastructure Capital Pte Ltd has issued four classes of notes, sponsored and managed by Clifford Capital, with a portfolio of 37 infrastructure loans across 30 projects from 16 markets in Asia and Middle East.
Three classes of the notes  &#8211; Classes A, B and C &#8211; were offered to institutional investors and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange, said Clifford Capital. The project finance loans were sourced from five banks: DBS Bank, HSBC, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered.
As a sponsor, Clifford Capital will hold on to 10 per cent of subordinated &#8220;first loss&#8221; note out of the total $458 million offering till maturity.
The firm added that it attracted strong demand from a variety of institutional investors including insurance companies, pension funds, endowment funds, family offices, specialised asset managers as well as individual sophisticated investors.
&#8220;Leveraging on Clifford Capital’s experience and expertise in project finance and loan portfolio management, we are committed to developing this asset class as a long-term sustainable solution to encourage institutional participation for Asia’s fast growing infrastructure funding needs,&#8221; said Clifford Capital CEO, Clive Kerner.
During a media briefing, Kerner said Clifford Capital has been profitable in the second year of its operations since it was established in 2012. Backed by the government of Singapore, Clifford Capital operates independently as a commercial entity on an arms-length with the state.
&#8220;The demand of infrastructure in Asia is enormous where there is also a funding gap of about $459 billion and it&#8217;s not possible for the government to finance all these. So we would like to mobilise a new source of liquidity into infrastructure financing. This is a new asset class,&#8221; he said, adding, the firm would look to do another similar size issuance in the next 12 to 18 months.
Monetary Authority of Singapore executive director and head of financial markets development, Alan Yeo commented: &#8220;This transaction is a good example of how infrastructure can be developed as a mainstream, investible asset class to help crowd in institutional capital. It also showcases the role that Singapore can play as a full-service Asian infrastructure financing hub, by bringing together the right mix of industry expertise and networks.&#8221;
The underlying debt service cash flows from the infrastructure take-out facility&#8217;s (TOF) portfolio are generally denominated is USD, which match the debt service cash flows with respect to the notes offered.
As of the issue date, 75.6 per cent of assets relate to operational projects with stable and predictable cash flows, while the remaining 24.4% are in advanced stages of construction and benefit from sovereign or parent guarantees.
In addition, approximately 38.2 per cent of the loans within the portfolio benefit from external credit support provided by export credit agencies, insurers, or multilateral financial institutions.
Singapore&#8217;s state investment fund Temasek Holdings via its wholly-owned subsidiary Kovan Investments, owns a 40.5 per cent stake in Clifford Capital, a specialist arranger and provider of project and structured finance solutions. It was established in 2012 with support from the Singaporean government to plug gaps in project financing for large, long-term cross-border projects.
Other shareholders include Prudential Assurance Company Singapore (19.9 per cent) while DBS Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Standard Chartered Bank and John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) each hold a 9.9 per cent stake.
Clifford Capital has committed more than $2 billion to various projects across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South America.
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Bayfront Infrastructure Capital Pte Ltd has issued four classes of notes, sponsored and managed by Clifford Capital with a portfolio of 37 infrastructure loans across 30 projects from 16 markets in Asia and Middle East.

Temasek-backed Clifford Capital prices debut project finance securitisation issue

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