The French bank supporting a new cable across the Pacific has paid the first tranche of its loan to the operator.
Natixis, a corporate investment bank based in Paris, agreed in June 2015 to be exclusive equity adviser to the Hawaiki Cable, which is designed to connect Australia and New Zealand to the mainland US via Hawaii.
Natixis has confirmed that Hawaiki Cable has made the first drawdown of its loan from the bank. Natixis is funding a portion of the system’s construction costs through a senior loan facility.
Construction has started and the cable is intended to be in service by the middle of 2018. TE SubCom is building the 14,000 km cable system, which will deliver more than 30 Tbps of capacity.
Remi Galasso, CEO of Hawaiki Submarine Cable, said: “Natixis is a leading player in our industry. They combine financial advising expertise and debt structuring capabilities. We thank the Natixis team for their continuous support.”
Hawaiki aims to provide 133ms latency between Australia and the mainland US, and 43ms between Hawaii and the mainland US. It will run from Sydney, Australia, to Pacific City on the US west coast.
