Sunshine Coast University Hospital

Following , an interview we did to Anthony Casciano (CEO Project, Structured & Leveraged Finance - Healthcare, Siemens Financial Services)

Mr. Casciano, could you tell us a bit more about the role of SFS in the future Sunshine Coast University Hospital?

Mr. Anthony Casciano

In July 2012, SFS and Australia-based construction group Lend Lease have been selected as the successful consortium by Queensland Health to enter into a public private partnership arrangement to design, construct, maintain and finance the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, a new tertiary hospital to be built at Kawana in Queensland, Australia.

SFS will invest 50 percent of the equity in the project and will also participate in the senior debt. Financial Close was achieved at an almost unseen speed - within two weeks after contractual signing.

What kind of financing is going to be put in place to finance the project? Have you used debt financing, the capital markets or both? Could you tell us details of the pricing?

The project will be financed with equity from Lend Lease (50%) and SFS (50%), and senior debt from a club of lenders that includes National Australia Bank, Westpac, Mizuho and SFS. Capella Capital acted as financial advisor to the consortium, Clayton Utz acted as equity legal advisor and Gilbert + Tobin as debt legal. PWC acted as taxation advisor.

What are the tender requisites for SFS to participate in a process?

We are looking at established as well as up-coming healthcare PPP markets. Whereas the challenges differ by maturity of the market, a strong partner in the consortium is the main requisite for us to bid. Our healthcare PPP endeavours are always aligned with the Siemens Healthcare Sector; and needless to say we are looking for stable long-term returns.

What other healthcare PPP projects is SFS currently working on?

SFS has a global presence with healthcare PPP projects in development in countries including Australia, UK, South Africa, Chile, Poland, Brazil and Turkey.

Where do you see more market potential for your business?

Private hospital development in emerging and transformation economies is an increasingly important response to the widening gap between public healthcare providers and the perceived service need in those countries. We can be seen as an enabler of such healthcare projects together with our business partners: SFS makes projects work.

Thanks for your answer Mr. Casciano.