AboitizPower secures P12.5 B loan

MANILA, Philippines - The renewables unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has secured a P12.5-billion loan from three financial institutions to redeem its preferred shares and bankroll its operating expenditures.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AboitizPower said its subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) signed an omnibus agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility (CGIF), a trust fund of ADB.

The issuance was certified as a climate bond in December 2015 by the Climate Bond Initiative and is the first issuance of its kind in Asia.

“The proceeds of this undertaking will be used to finance the partial redemption of APRI’s redeemable preferred shares, and the partial funding of its operating expenditure and future rehabilitation requirements,” the company said.

BPI Capital Corp. acted as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, while BPI Asset Management and Trust Group was appointed as trustee and facility agent.

The company has been aggressive in its expansion program, with its goal to double its power capacity to roughly 4,000 MW by 2019.

AboitizPower has started operating its Davao coal-fired power plant at its full capacity earlier this month.

The company is also constructing a 59-MW solar power project in Negros Occidental with SunEdison Philippines Helios BV and an 8.5-MW hydroelectric power plant along the Maris Main (South) Canal in Magat with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

AboitizPower also made its foray in Indonesia, after it entered into agreements to explore and develop a potential 2x55 MW geothermal plant with PT Medco Power Indonesia in East Java Province, Indonesia and a potential 127-MW hydropower generation project with SN Power AS and PT Energi Infranusantara along the Lariang River in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.