Gunns Ltd has cleared another hurdle in its bid to build a controversial $1.4b pulp mill in Northern Tasmania after news the company had brokered a finance deal leaked.

Finnish company Poyry Capital Ltd is believed to have clinched the lucrative contract after Gunns failed to secure an Australian based lender.

Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society had previously claimed that ANZ was preparing to finance the project and had been waging a campaign to dissuade the bank from supporting it.

Poyry Capital is a member of the Jaako Poyry group, who already has the contract to supply pulping infrastructure for the project, and have a history of financing forestry projects such as pulp mills.

It’s unclear why ANZ failed to secure the project but industry speculation has centered on the bank’s recent signing of the Equator Principles, in the wake of rival Westpac’s advertising blitzkrieg claiming that Westpac was the only Australian bank to sign up to the environmental charter.

ANZ spokesperson Paul Edwards said that it was “inappropriate for the bank to comment on the merits of clients’ projects” but stated that as far as he was aware, Gunns hadn’t decided on a financier and no agreement had been struck with ANZ.

The Equator Principles is a binding agreement between more than 50 of the world’s biggest banks, which prohibits financing of environmentally questionable projects.

The Principles state that projects must be assessed independently, comply with the relevant laws of the host country, use the latest technology, and have a decommissioning strategy in place in addition to being environmentally sustainable.

Poyry Capital isn’t a signatory to the Principles.

Wes Young has previously worked for the Tasmanian Parliamentary Greens on a brief contractual basis but has no affiliation to the Greens, environmental groups or any other political party.