Norton Rose Fulbright advises on Asia Pacific’s largest green loan in the C&I renewables sector

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised ING N.V. on a US$75 million term loan facility to photovoltaic developer Cleantech Solar SEA Pte Ltd. The deal represents the largest green loan in the commercial and industrial (C&I) renewables sector in Asia Pacific.

The financing will be used to build more than 500MW of solar power projects in Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Cleantech Solar is headquartered in Singapore and has Shell and Climate Fund Managers as its strategic investors.

Led by Singapore partner Stephen Begley, Norton Rose Fulbright conducted multi-jurisdictional due diligence, including the required permits and licences, across Southeast Asia.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team on the deal also included Singapore-based partners Nicky Davies, Colin Rice and Janelene Chen, and associates Mavis Loke, Aditi Aparajita and Hazel Lim, as well as a team from its Bangkok office led by Tassanai Kiratisountorn.

Stephen Begley commented:

“This financing is structured on a portfolio basis but also borrows elements that would be seen in a standard project finance for a single project asset. This is an impactful and interesting deal not just because it’s the largest green loan in APAC for the C&I renewables industry, but also for its multi-jurisdictional complexities that we had to navigate.”

In the past six months, Norton Rose Fulbright has advised on a number of successful rooftop solar power projects in the C&I sector. These include Global Climate Partnership Fund S.A.’s US$15 million financing to Constant Energy for the development of rooftop solar projects in Thailand and UOB’s SG$14 million post-construction financing to LYS Energy for rooftop solar projects in Singapore.