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The Writer means Philip James Johnston 0434 715.861 - (a) aged 71;
(b) retired in 2007 from Commonwealth Bank's "Infrastructure & Utilities
Solutions" division after 37 years where for the latter few years he wrote
credit papers to lend between $20m and $100m for urban infrastructure projects
ranging from hospitals, prisons, defence force barracks etc which highlighted
the innovative/creative benefits from private sector involvement. Between 1990 and 2002 he
administered extensive inter-related Project Documents and Financial Documents
for large syndicated bank debts as the Agent bank - largest was $3.95b Sydney Airport privatisation
with 39 banks. (c) worked for CBA for 37 years having joined 11 years after CBA lost its central bank responsibilities. (d) holds from Macquarie University in Sydney - * Bachelor of Arts Degree - Major in Economics & Finance - 1976 from Macquarie University; and * Master Degree in Applied Finance - April 2001 from Macquarie University; (e) adept at documenting agreements setting out all parties' rights, duties and obligations; (f) cycles approx 90km hilly routes each Sunday with similarly inclined middle aged folk amongst Muggaccinos.com under the alias of Bank Teller; and (g) has cycled as a Pilot with 8 vision impaired cyclists on the back of various tandem bicycles - longest ride was 127km under a programme Adopt a Blind Cyclist. Working at CBA, he would receive approaches from Macq Bank, Investec, Merrill Lynch and the other three of the Four Pillars (Arranger Banks) wanting him to execute a Confidentiality Agreement, so that they could provide to him an Information Memorandum (“I.M.”) re a expectant new infrastructure project that they were ‘arranging’ with Equity Partners (major construction companies) in the hope that CBA would lend say between $50m and $120m to their prospective infrastructure project in order to attract required First Ranking Debt Providers to fund their project, following execution of inter alia Syndicate Facilities Agreement, Security Trust Deed, Intercreditor Deed Poll, Tripartite Deed etc. An I.M. (approx 120 pgs) seeks to inform potential lenders of the projected construction/operations costs and patronage forecasts to assure that the new piece of infrastructure, often a toll road, gas pipeline, hospital refurb, sewerage treatment plant etc would generate sufficient revenues to enable amortising debt repayments, interest payments etc to occur. The Arranger Bank also needs to provide with its I.M. a Base Case Financial Model (An Excel file with say 30 years projected cashflows requiring 15 or so linked worksheets) to prospective First Ranking Debt Providers. The Writer performed the Agent role in well over 50 Syndicated Facilities Agreements acting as a fiduciary for 1st ranking Bank Debt Providers or 2nd ranking subordinated Bondholders. He acted as Agent on the Asia Pacific Rail Transport project (new train line from Darwin to Alice Springs and an upgraded rail line from Alice Springs to Adelaide). Bondholders lost the entire $78.5m subordinated debt facility because the forecast rail haulage projections provided by the Arranger Bank were too optimistic. Hence, there wasn't sufficient revenue to repay scheduled amortizing debt reductions. The train line from Darwin to Alice Springs should never have been built, even though the Australian Govt, the SA Govt and N.T. Govt funded almost 50% of construction costs. Freight revenues proved insufficient to repay both Senior Debt and Bondholder Debt. |
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