QIC Private Debt Infrastructure invests  in European bulk terminals operator HES

The private debt infrastructure arm of Australian investment company QIC has committed €50m to European bulk terminals operator HES International BV.

QIC Private Debt Infrastructure has committed capital as part of a €220m six-year sustainability-linked junior loan financing to HES. The junior loan forms part of a €1bn debt capital raise by HES to further support the company’s growth and diversification strategy.

Rotterdam-headquartered HES has a footprint of 15 terminals across five jurisdictions, including a key presence in European deep draft ports and the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region capturing trade flows in Europe’s industrial heartland.

Nicholas Stockdale, partner and head of Europe, QIC Private Debt Infrastructure, said this transaction was the seventh private markets loan investment for QIC Private Debt Infrastructure. 

Stockdale said he believed there was a continued positive outlook for junior infrastructure private market debt for the medium-term, with several factors combining to allow investors to benefit in current market conditions – including the higher for longer interest rate environment.

“The relative value of junior infrastructure debt investments also continues to prove compelling,” he added.

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