NZGIF Solar Finance is the winner of the Structured Finance and Securitisation Deal of the Year Award at the 2024 IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards.
The NZGIF Solar Finance deal was praised for the way it combined the concept of securitisation and project finance. It is the first term-out securitisation of a solar portfolio and the first transaction by a New Zealand financial services business to achieve Climate Bonds Initiative certification.
Congratulations to all who contributed to the deal, especially the legal teams from Chapman Tripp, DLA Piper, Mayne Wetherell and Webb Henderson, along with the teams at SolarZero and Societe Generale.
The IFLR (International Financial Law Review) Awards celebrate celebrate the achievements of the financial law community. The Asia-Pacific awards – the first of five global award ceremonies – were announced in Hong Kong on 20 March. NZGIF Solar Finance was the only New Zealand deal to win an award.
Here’s what the judges said about the winning entry:
NZGIF Solar Finance Programme – solarZero Residential No 1 Trust
The winning deal combined the concept of securitisation and project finance. The structure consisted in the establishment of the NZGIF Solar Finance Programme and the initial finance under a sub-trust of solarZero’s portfolio of residential Power Purchase Agreements. It is the first term-out securitization of a solar portfolio and the first transaction by a New Zealand financial services business to achieve Climate Bonds Initiative certification. The transaction involved establishing a master programme with NZGIF as Programme Manager which has the ability to bring different solar operator trusts under the one structure with separate investors but all managed by NZGIF.
Law firms:
- Chapman Tripp - New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) and SolarZero
- DLA Piper - NZGIF
- Mayne Wetherell - Investors (First Sentier Investors and Natixis Investment Managers)
- Webb Henderson - Trustee
Read the full list of award winners here.