Media Release
27 April 2011.
Pacific Fibre appoints Bank and Investment Banks
“ANZ is delighted to be a part of the development of this critical infrastructure connecting Australia and New Zealand to the United States, and has been a supporter of the project from the early stages”, said David Green, ANZ New Zealand Managing Director, Institutional. The bank’s Executive Director for Institutional Relationships, John Vetter, added “We are very happy to be supporting Pacific Fibre. Our mandate is to raise the debt portion of the US$400 million project on a project finance basis, and as Lead Arranger we intend to provide a significant portion of the required financing while also arranging for other qualified Australasian and international banks to join in this financing.”
Scott St John, CEO of First NZ Capital, is also a strong supporter, saying “The project is crucial to the development of Australasia’s infrastructure, strategic to the region’s ongoing competitiveness, and well-timed for corporates and consumers. We are seeing good support for equity investment into solid long-term infrastructure projects like this. We expect to present this to selected investors shortly.”
Pacific Fibre’s recent tender release has accelerated global interest. CEO Mark Rushworth said “We are pleased to be working closely with top financial firms ANZ, Credit Suisse and First NZ Capital. ANZ have demonstrated their passion for the project and have an impressive balance sheet that will facilitate our fund raising. Credit Suisse’s role is also important. Their global reach and outstanding Australasian team, including local partners First NZ Capital, gives us access to the broadest possible range of equity investors.” Mr. Rushworth continued, “Pacific Fibre’s undersea cable system will unleash the potential of the Australian NBN and New Zealand UFB/RBI projects. It will provide the fastest path to the United States with the most competitive cost basis and help Australia and New Zealand meet the ever-increasing demand for international voice, data and Internet content.”
Ends.
For more information please contact:
Mark Rushworth
Pacific Fibre CEO mark.rushworth@pacificfibre.net +64 21 244 0777, +64 9 2153308
About Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre was founded in 2010 and is intending to construct one of the longest and most technically superior undersea cable systems. The Pacific Fibre cable will connect Australia and New Zealand to the United States by utilizing the industry’s most advanced and proven technology, achieving the fastest and most efficient route. By employing 40G technology, Pacific Fibre’s cable will, upon installation, deliver 5.12 Tbt/s of design capacity and, like all modern cable systems, be capable of significant future increases in design capacity. Pacific Fibre is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The Pacific Fibre shareholders include a number of successful entrepreneurs with proven track records, including Sir Stephen Tindall, and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel.
About Credit Suisse AG
Credit Suisse AG is one of the world’s leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as ‘Credit Suisse’). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse offers clients its combined expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management. Credit Suisse provides advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high‐net‐worth private clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 50,500 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse’s parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit‐suisse.com.
About ANZ
ANZ is one of the largest international banks in the Asia Pacific region with assets of AU$532 billion and a long-term credit rating of AA (Standard & Poor’s). ANZ has one of the Asia Pacific’s broadest integrated debt origination and distribution networks, providing access to more than 500 investor accounts across the region. ANZ currently ranks number one in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan loan arranger league tables in terms of number of issues (source: Thomson Reuters, 2010), and is also a leading regional ECA debt arranger.
About First NZ Capital
First NZ Capital is a leading full service, wholly New Zealand owned, share broking and investment banking firm. It was formed in 2002 through an employee buyout of Credit Suisse Group’s New Zealand operations, but has been active in the New Zealand market under other names for 50 years. It has a formal strategic alliance with Credit Suisse, a relationship that has existed for 20 years. First NZ Capital has been awarded best NZ investment bank by FinanceAsia for the past two years, and INFINZ sharebroker of the year for the past three years.
Pacific Fibre announced today that its Invitation To Tender was released to selected vendors for the Pacific Fibre Cable System connecting Australia to New Zealand and the US. The 5.12 Tbit/sec two fibre pair system, which includes new build cable landing stations in each country, will allow Australian and New Zealand carriers to secure supply of sufficient capacity to take advantage of the NBN and UFB fibre rollout plans.
Mike Constable, Director for Business Development, responsible for leading the build of the cable system, said ”This is a significant milestone in the project development phase and shows the momentum Pacific Fibre has built towards achieving its goal. The 450 page document reflects the considerable work we have put into the design and configuration of the cable system and provides the basis of the contract which we expect to execute with a selected vendor in the third quarter this year.”
The Invitation To Tender was sent to established leaders in the submarine cable system supply industry. Vendor responses are due in mid-May with contract negotiations expected to commence with a preferred vendor soon after.
Pacific Fibre CEO Mark Rushworth said ”We are delighted with the experience and progress that Mike and his team of experts have brought to Pacific Fibre to drive forward the cable design and build process.”
Mark also confirmed today that Pacific Fibre is building the cable alone. “A joint build Memorandum of Understanding expired earlier this year, freeing us to move ahead more quickly. We have been assuming a solo-build system for several months now and remain firmly on track to finance and deliver the system in 2013. Our proposed design greatly expands capacity for carriers and multi national businesses, and provides much needed diversity for the region.”
Ends.
For more information please contact:
Mark Rushworth
Pacific Fibre CEO mark.rushworth@pacificfibre.net +64 21 244 0777, +64 9 2153308
About Pacific Fibre
Pacific Fibre was founded in early 2010 and aims to build a new fibre optic cable between Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The company directors and investors include Sam Morgan, Stephen Tindall, Rod Drury, David Kirk, Bill Day, Craig Winkler and Peter Thiel.