Tellus Successfully Completes A$135m Debt Refinancing

Tellus Holdings Ltd (Tellus), an Australian public company that owns and operates Australia’s first commercial geological repository for Class IV and Class V hazardous waste, is pleased to announce that we’ve signed an agreement for a new A$135 million debt facility. Tellus will use the proceeds to refinance all existing debt and to accelerate growth.

The new facility was struck at a lower interest rate than the previous debt facility and pushes debt maturity out until July 2026.

The new debt facility is being funded by Tor Investment Management (Tor), a leading independent alternative credit manager focused on the Asia-Pacific markets with over $2 billion under management, further supported by a global institutional investor.

Tellus CEO, Nate Smith said: “The strong interest and competition amongst leading global institutional investors to support Tellus’ growth story attests to the position we occupy in the broader waste sector and confidence in our strategy. This refinancing deal is an excellent result for the company and its shareholders. With a lower cost of capital and new five-year term, we have eliminated refinancing risk and equipped ourselves to focus on accelerating the ramp-up at Sandy Ridge and capitalising on our pipeline of growth opportunities.”

“Tellus is already seeing strong interest from potential clients in its hazardous waste solution since officially opening Sandy Ridge in March this year. Tellus has plans to increase the capacity of Sandy Ridge and progress the development of other geological repositories. These plans will accelerate with the new funding in place.”

“Our team is extremely proud of the work we do. We are energised and equipped to develop facilities that will help protect current and future Australian communities and the environment from the impacts of hazardous waste.”

Media contact:
Justin Kirkwood
+61 411 251 324
Justin@kirkwoods.com.au

Tellus is an innovative environmental services company cleaning up hazardous waste across Australia by developing and operating geological repositories, which are the safest places for such waste, and reinvesting in its communities through the circular economy.

Its first geological repository, Sandy Ridge, is located north of Kalgoorlie in WA and is Australia’s first commercial geological repository. It opened in early 2021 and is licensed to accept Class IV and Class V hazardous waste in nearly any form (liquid, sludge, solid) and typically without treatment, up to 100,000 tonnes per annum for the next 25 years. Unlike a traditional waste landfill that relies on a liner, Sandy Ridge relies on a multi-barrier, natural safety case, underpinned by unique geology.

A key feature of the Tellus solution is the fact that Tellus takes risk and title to hazardous waste and thereby facilitates the removal of remediation liabilities from a client’s balance sheet. This is affected by the issuance of a ‘Tellus Permanent Isolation Certificate (PIC TM )’. Tellus’ world class safety case is backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in assurance and insurance, meaning these companies are assured of no future liability.

Other sites around Australia are also being considered for development by Tellus, including a site in the Broken Hill region in NSW, and a site in the Northern Territory.

Tor is a leading independent alternative credit manager in Asia with over $2 billion under management. The firm launched in 2013 to provide investors with access to the Asia-Pacific credit markets. Based in Hong Kong and Singapore, the platform consists of 40 employees, including an investment team of 17 professionals with 17 years of average experience. Tor’s global institutional investor base includes public and corporate pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, outsourced CIOs and family offices.