Foresight’s ARIF Secures AU$700 Million To Refinance Clean Portfolio Growth

• Foresight’s Australian Renewables Income Fund raised AU$700 million—AU$620m term loan plus AU$80m facility—backed by five banks, to refinance and expand a mixed portfolio.

Foresight Group’s Australian Renewables Income Fund (ARIF) has closed a AU$700 million refinancing that consolidates debt across ten operating assets and sets up a platform for further growth. The package comprises a AU$620 million term loan and an AU$80 million multi-purpose facility, with ANZ, Westpac, Mizuho, HSBC and Bank of China participating; RBC Capital Markets advised, and White & Case acted as counsel.

Beyond cheaper funding, the consolidation increases flexibility: ARIF can recycle capital faster, respond to procurement windows, and sharpen bids in a market where longer-duration storage is becoming the missing piece alongside wind and solar. The fund—acquired via Infrastructure Capital Group in 2022—now oversees roughly 787 MW of operating renewables with a development pipeline behind it.

For lenders, portfolio refinancings like this diversify risk compared with single-asset project debt, while giving sponsors room to standardize O&M and asset-level reporting. For Australia’s build-out, they can smooth delivery at a time when queue management, substation works and battery warranties are the gating items.

Expect ARIF to press the advantage where grid headroom and contracting are clearest, and to explore hybrids that co-locate storage on existing interconnections. In a rising-load environment—data centers, electrification—funds with nimble balance sheets will be best placed to turn development rights into steel in the ground.