Chris Patten
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright Australia
Related services and key industries
Related services
- Acquisition finance and corporate lending
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Asset-based lending
- Banking and finance
- Communications, media and entertainment
- Construction and engineering
- Debt capital markets
- Debt financing
- Emerging markets
- Financial investors
- Funds and asset management
- Infrastructure
- Private equity and venture capital
- Real estate
- Securitization
- Space and satellite law
- Structured trade and commodity finance
- Sustainable finance
- Technology transactions
Key industry sectors
Biography
Chris Patten is a partner in the Banking and Finance team based in our Melbourne office.
Chris specialises in advising corporate and institutional borrowers, early-stage investors, project developers and private capital investors on their complex debt financing needs in both APAC and global markets. He is one of Australia’s leading data centre advisers and a founder of Norton Rose Fulbright’s global data centre practice, bringing deep sector expertise and a cross-border perspective to his clients in that sector.
Chris’ clients praise him for his commerciality, creativity and ability to deliver on their strategic objectives. They also consistently highlight his technical precision, understanding of their business and open and collaborative approach to delivering client solutions.
Chris’ core areas of practice are project and development finance, acquisition financings, real estate finance, complex corporate financings and asset-based lending. Chris also has significant experience dealing with sustainability linked / green finance for borrower clients.
Professional experience
Collapse all- Bachelor of Law (Hons) / Commerce, University of Melbourne
- Supreme Court of Victoria 2006
- high court of australia 2006
Acting as borrower counsel for a real estate fund manager on syndicated debt facilities for a greenfield development financing for a A$1.02bn 50Ha industrial and logistics site in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD375m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Malaysia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on financing the expansion of its GPU cloud platform and data centre portfolio in Canada and the USA.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on acquisition financing and strategic partnerships for the acquisition and redevelopment of an existing data centre in Sydney to a 120MW data centre.
Acting as lender counsel for a development finance institution on debt facilities for a greenfield project financing of a 300MW hyperscale data centre campus in Malaysia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD1bn syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD161m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a hospitality real estate developer on syndicated debt facilities for the AUD80m purchase of the Manly Wharf precinct in Sydney.
Acting as borrower counsel for a consortium of international infrastructure investors on AUD261m syndicated acquisition debt facilities for the acquisition of Rail First, a leading Australian rail freight leasing company.
Acting as borrower counsel for a real estate developer on four greenfield data centre projects in Saudi Arabia.
Acting as borrower counsel to a real estate fund manager on AUD850m bilateral common terms debt facilities supporting a 33 property industrial and logistics portfolio.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD511.7m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the greenfield development of a hyperscale data centre in Malaysia.
Acting as borrower counsel to a real estate fund manager on AUD250m bilateral debt facilities and AUD300m syndicated debt facilities, all subject to a common terms structure, supporting a 14 property industrial and logistics portfolio, with a split structure for development assets and stabilised assets.
Acting as borrower counsel to a data centre platform on JPY19bn syndicated debt facilities, for the greenfield development of a hyperscale data centre in Tokyo, structured as a green loan (the first for a data centre in Japan).
Acting as borrower counsel to a data centre platform on JPY55bn syndicated debt facilities, for the greenfield development of a hyperscale data centre in Osaka, structured as a green loan.
Acting as borrower counsel to a real estate fund manager on AUD235m bilateral common terms facilities supporting a 27 property industrial and logistics portfolio, with a split structure for development assets and stabilised assets.
Acting as borrower counsel to a data centre platform on JPY45bn syndicated debt facilities, for the greenfield development of a hyperscale data centre in Tokyo and a subsequent refinancing for the expansion of the data centre and conversion of the debt facilities into sustainability linked debt facilities (the first sustainability linked loan structure for a data centre in Japan).
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD1.53bn syndicated debt facilities for a portfolio of hyperscale data centres in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD2.1bn syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities, the largest in global data centre history and first in APAC at the closing date.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD450m syndicated senior and mezzanine debt facilities for the greenfield project financing of a 78MW hyperscale data centre in Singapore, the largest carrier neutral data centre in Singapore at that time.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD852m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of two hyperscale data centres in Melbourne and Sydney, which was the largest data centre financing undertaken in Australia as at the closing date.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD150m syndicated senior debt facilities and AUD122.5m syndicated mezzanine debt facilities to fund the greenfield development of two hyperscale data centres in Melbourne and Sydney.
Acting as borrower counsel to a real estate fund manager on AUD2.3 billion syndicated acquisition facilities for the acquisition of the AUD3.8bn, 45 property industrial and logistics portfolio, which was the largest direct real estate investment in the Australian market ever at the closing date, and subsequent AUD1.03bn syndicated debt facilities and AUD346m syndicated debt facilities, all subject to a common terms structure.
Acting as borrower counsel for Australia and New Zealand’s largest loan market aggregator owned by a family office in relation to the syndicated acquisition debt facilities for the acquisition of NABs finance broker aggregation business.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD81m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for an award-winning property tech startup in relation to a AUD35m venture debt financing provided by a private institutional lender.
Acting as borrower counsel for a hospitality real estate developer on a AUD103m senior debt facility, a subsequent AUD55.1m senior and AUD103m mezzanine debt package and most recently a AUD280m syndicated senior refinancing facility for the construction and expansion of the Howard Smith Wharves hospitality precinct in Brisbane.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD63m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as lender counsel for a development finance institution on debt facilities for expansion of several hyperscale data centres in Brazil, which was the first data centre financing project globally for the client.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on HKD440m syndicated debt facilities for the greenfield project financing of a 20MW hyperscale data centre in Hong Kong.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD27m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD122m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a portfolio company of an international infrastructure investor on bilateral development facilities provided by a private institutional lender supporting the rollout of energy efficiency projects across Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for an international hedge fund on equity derivatives and syndicated margin loan facilities supporting a AUD1bn-plus investment an ASX listed gold miner.
Acting as borrower counsel to a consortium of Australian and US private equity funds on the syndicated acquisition debt facilities for their acquisition of a multinational company specialising in industrial and mechanical services to the oil and gas, chemical, mining, cement and utilities industries across Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD11m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for an Australian listed gold producer on AUD80m capital expenditure facilities provided by a leading international commodities financier.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD200m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD41m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD132m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as lender counsel to a syndicate on AUD204m syndicated debt facilities and NZD72.5m for the greenfield development and expansions of a data centre platform’s data centres in Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Auckland.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD36m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on HKD515m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Hong Kong.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD53m syndicated debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD71m syndicated debt facilities for the acquisition of a hyperscale data centre campus in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD37.5m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD28m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD34.5m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD40m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on AUD55.5m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Australia.
Acting as borrower counsel for a data centre platform on SGD50m syndicated sustainability-linked debt facilities for the expansion of a hyperscale data centre in Singapore.
Acting as borrower counsel for a Singaporean private equity real estate firm on the simultaneous financing through 4 separate debt facilities for the acquisition of a portfolio of commercial office buildings in Brisbane’s CBD.
Acting as borrower counsel for a consortium of a global investment manager and a real estate developer on the syndicated debt facilities for the construction of a 90-storey residential tower in Brisbane, the tallest building in Brisbane, including several refinancing transactions.
Acting as borrower counsel for a global infrastructure investor and Canadian pension plan manager on all aspects of the financing for the $9.05 billion takeover of Asciano Limited, including the AUD3.95bn syndicated acquisition financing.