AIRPORT DEAL: Who is Palisade Investment Partners?

There’s a new player in Coffs Harbour - here’s what you need to know.

Left: Director of Palisade Investment Partners Roger Lloyd (Photo by Sam Mooy). Right: Coffs Harbour airport terminal (Photo by Trevor Veale).

THEY'RE a new player in Coffs, but Palisade Investment Partners - who has secured a deal to take over Coffs Airport - is no stranger to the regional aviation sector.

The Australian investment firm, headed up by CEO Roger Lloyd, is described as a "specialist, independent infrastructure manager" and already boasts a number of notable assets in its portfolio, spanning across several sectors.

Coffs airport marks its fifth aviation asset, with Palisade having signed a 99-year lease of Sunshine Coast Airport in 2017.

The firm played a role in the Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion Projectwhich recently completed a new $334 million runway.

 

The Sunshine Coast Airport runway expansion was completed earlier this year.

 

Palisade also has ownership in the Airport Development Group, which manages Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek airport under a 99-year lease.

Under the almost $500-million deal with Coffs Harbour City Council, a 50-year lease with an option to extend it for a further 49 years will soon be finalised.

"This transaction builds on Palisade's longstanding investments in the regional airports sector … and represents an excellent addition to our portfolio," CEO Roger Lloyd said.

 

Director of Palisade Investment Partners, Roger Lloyd said Coffs airport was an “excellent addition” to the firm’s portfolio. Photo by Sam Mooy.

 

Palisade's investments don't end in aviation, but span across the transport, renewable energy and social infrastructure sectors.

The firm has ownership in several wind farms across the country, including three in South Australia and one in Tasmania, as well as the Ross River Solar Farm near Townsville.

Other energy assets include the North Qld gas pipeline, the Tasmanian gas pipeline and Merredin Energy power station east of Perth.

The firm has ownership in the Hawaiku Submarine Cable, a 15,000km fibre optic deep sea cable linking Australia, NZ, the Pacific and the United States.

 

Palisade partly owns and has been involved in the development of Gold Coast Rapid Transit. Photo by Richard Gosling.

 

It's portfolio features other notable assets including the Gold Coast Rapid Transit, Regional Livestock Exchanges, Newcastle Mater Hospital, Port of Portland, Melbourne's Casey Hospital, and Global Renewables Eastern Creek - an alternate waste treatment plant west of Sydney.

In a statement, Palisade noted the Coffs Coast region was one of the fastest growing regional areas, and that the airport had demonstrated a "positive recovery profile" since the onset of COVID-19.

The long-term lease will include an upfront payment to council of $25m, and additional payments totalling $56.5m over seven years.

The council will share revenue from both the airport and Enterprise Park operations.