Asia Container Terminals (ACT) has signed agreements with seven banks to raise $3.4 billion to fund its part of building Container Terminal 9 (CT9) at Tsing Yi Island.
ACT's share in the $5.1 billion CT9 project will be $3.2 billion, or 62.75 per cent of the total cost.
The company will use the remaining $200 million of the funds as working capital.
'This is the first big deal since the Asian crisis showing renewed attention by banks to infrastructure projects,' said Francois Favret, director of product finance at Societe Generale Asia, one of the seven banks that arranged financing.
The other banks involved in the credit are ABN Amro Bank, BA Asia, Bank Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank, Dresdner Bank, National Australia Bank and Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.
The 10-year financing - to be made in $3.2 billion and $200 million portions - is to have an interest rate of 1.8 to 1.9 per cent above the Hong Kong interbank offered rate.
Two other parties - Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) and Modern Terminals - will bear the remaining $1.9 billion to build CT9.