Babcock & Brown has secured an 11th-hour reprieve after a syndicate of 25 international banks agreed on Wednesday to extend a A$150m ($96m) of emergency loan to the beleaguered Australian infrastructure investor.

B&B has been fighting for survival for almost two weeks after a number of the banks in the syndicate balked at taking on more risk after the group – which already owes A$3.1bn in senior debt – said it was in danger of breaching banking covenants.