Latham Advises Clifford Capital on US$802.4 Million Infrastructure Asset-Backed Securities Issuance
Latham & Watkins has advised Clifford Capital, the Singapore-headquartered infrastructure credit platform, on its ninth public infrastructure asset-backed securities (IABS) transaction as structuring and drafting counsel. With an overall issuance size of US$802.4 million, Bayfront IX represents the largest infrastructure CLO/IABS issuance to date.
Bayfront IX is Clifford Capital’s third successive issuance in Rule 144A/Reg S format and the Bayfront IABS program remains the only IABS or infrastructure CLO globally to date whose Class A Notes carry dual credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch. Bayfront IX offers US$762.3 million of Senior Notes across four classes. The Class A Notes are rated Aaa (sf) by Moody’s and AAA sf by Fitch. The Class B and Class C Notes are rated Aa2 (sf) and Baa3 (sf) respectively, by Moody’s. As with Clifford Capital’s prior public IABS issuances, the Class D Notes represent an unrated mezzanine tranche offered on an unguaranteed basis.
Hong Kong partner Michael Hardy said, “The development of the infrastructure ABS asset class since the first Bayfront issuance in 2018 has been remarkable, and Clifford Capital has been at the forefront of the growth and innovation. We are proud to have supported this journey at each stage.”
Latham previously advised on the original Bayfront issuance in 2018, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital II in 2021, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital III in 2022, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital IV in 2023, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital V in 2024, Bayfront Infrastructure Capital VI in March 2025, Bayfront IABS VII in November 2025, and Bayfront IABS VIII in May 2026, in each case as structuring and drafting counsel.
The Latham team was led by Hong Kong Structured Finance partner Michael Hardy and Singapore finance partner Timothy Hia, with associates Aakash Sardana and Karen Wong. Specialist support was provided by New York partner Jim Fogarty, London partner Sanjev Warna-kula-suriya, and Singapore partner Stacey Wong, with counsels Kelly Teoh and Aryeh Zuber. Advice on regulatory matters was provided by Washington, D.C. partner Aaron Gilbride, with counsel Meghan Carey and associate Katherine Ryan; and on tax matters by New York partners Elena Romanova and Gregory Hannibal, with associates Sam Yang and Daniel Mousseri.