First Gen borrows $500 M to repay debts

MANILA, Philippines - First Gen Corp. has borrowed $500 million from six banks to repay existing debts.

First Gen disclosed yesterday its wholly-owned subsidiary First Gas Power Corp. signed a $500-million seven-year term loan facility with Bank of Commerce, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank Inc., Philippine National Bank, Security Bank Corp., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Singapore branch.

The proceeds of the loan will be used to repay the amounts due on First Gas’ existing debt of approximately $243 million.

The net proceeds of the refinancing will be used to pay down a portion of First Gen’s existing loans, as well as pre-fund its upcoming maturities.

 “The $500-million debt facility is a testimony to the strong support and continuing confidence of our lenders in First Gen’s natural-gas business. First Gen pioneered this business about 20 years ago and it has since reached even greater heights,” president and COO Francis Giles Puno said.

 “The natural gas platform now stands at 2,011 megawatts (MW) and we are working hard to deliver the country’s first LNG Terminal, as well as more natural gas-fired power plants,” he said.

First Gen, through its subsidiaries, is the largest producer of natural gas-fired power in the Philippines where all of its natural-gas fired plants are located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City.

First Gas Power owns and operates the 1,000 MW Santa Rita natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant, one of the group’s four natural gas-fired power plants.

Other plants include the 500-MW San Lorenzo, the 97-MW Avion peaking and the 414-MW San Gabriel mid-merit power plants.

Aside from its natural gas portfolio, First Gen is the largest shareholder in Energy Development Corp. (EDC) which owns and operates geothermal, wind, hydro and solar power plants in the country.