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

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 15 terminals in five jurisdictions, including a key presence in European deep-draft ports and the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region.

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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