Clifford Capital, the Singapore-headquartered infrastructure credit platform, has completed the inaugural issuance of Australian dollar-denominated infrastructure asset-backed securities ( IABS ). 

The transaction raised A$455 million ( US$325 million ) through four tranches of notes placed to institutional investors, including ING which invested in the most-senior-ranking Class A notes. The portfolio comprised 21 individual obligors who are mostly based in Australia. The transaction was executed via a special purpose vehicle, Bayfront IABS PP 2026-01, which was established to acquire the portfolio and issue the notes. The notes have a legal tenor of 2.7 years.

ING was issued the Class A notes, while the Class B and Class C notes have been allocated by Clifford Capital Asset Management to managed pools of capital. Clifford Capital retained the subordinated notes in compliance with EU retention requirements.

ING acted as the hedging bank, providing interest-rate and cross-currency swaps to the issuer on selected underlying collateral obligations, and also served as a Class A note investor, supporting both structuring and portfolio considerations.

Clifford Capital says the deal demonstrates its ability to develop new distribution products, diversifying into other currencies following its previous USD-denominated IABS issuances. It also underscores the appetite for Aussie-denominated and Australian infrastructure debt from global institutional investors, the firm says.

The transaction’s reference portfolio comprises 21 collateral obligations across four countries and all four of Clifford Capital’s industry verticals. A total of 87% of the notes were distributed in Australia, while the remaining 13% went to France, Germany, and the United States. In terms of industry, 18.6% of the total value of the IABS was backed by obligations from companies in the energy and utilities sector, 19.6% from natural resources, 29.8% from digital and social infrastructure, and 31.9% from transportation and industrials.