Aboitiz Power Corp. said Wednesday it secured a $300-million loan from four foreign banks to partly finance the acquisition of AA Thermal Inc.’s coal assets worth $579.2 million.
“Aboitiz Power signed a facility agreement with DBS Bank Ltd., Mizuho Bank Ltd., MUFG Bank Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank to obtain an acquisition loan in the amount of up to $300 million,” the company said.
It said the proceeds of the loan would be used to partially finance the acquisition by Aboitiz Power of a 49-percent voting stake and 60-percent economic stake in AA Thermal Inc., the coal arm of AC Energy Inc. of the Ayala Group.
The board of Aboitiz Power approved in January the issuance of up to P16.8-billion fixed-rate retail bonds by the second half of the year, representing the third tranche bonds of the P30-billion bonds registered in 2017 under the shelf registration program of the Securities Exchange Commission.
The company issued the first tranche out of the shelf-registered bonds on July 3, 2017 worth P3 billion, and the second tranche on Oct. 25, 2018 amounting to P10.2 billion.
Aboitiz Power said it would use the proceeds from the bonds “to finance planned acquisitions, future investments and/or other corporate requirements.”
Aboitiz Power and Arlington Mariveles Netherlands Holding B.V., an affiliate of AC Energy signed a share purchase agreement on Sept. 26, 2018 for the acquisition value at $579.2 million (P31.4 billion).
The AA Thermal platform acquired by Aboitiz Power initially consisted of AC Energy’s limited partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co., the owner and operator of the operating 632-MW coal plant in Mariveles, Bataan and in GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., the developer and owner of a 1,336-MW supercritical coal plant project in Dinginin, Bataan which is currently under construction.
Once completed, the acquisition will increase Aboitiz Power’s ownership in the Mariveles coal plant to 78.325 percent and in the Dinginin coal plant project to 70 percent.
The Mariveles coal plant has been operating since 2013 while the first unit of the Dinginin coal plant project is scheduled to go online this year.