AboitizPower unit prepays loans

ABOITIZPOWER Corp. said on Friday that its unit Therma Power Inc. ( TPI) had prepaid $320 million worth of loans drawn from various lenders under a facility agreement signed last year.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, AboitizPower said TPI “prepaid a total amount of USD320 million of loans drawn from various lenders under the Facility Agreement dated November 24, 2016.”

AboitizPower said TPI used internally generated funds.

Last year, AboitizPower signed an agreement with Bank of TokyoMitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd., Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., Maybank Kim Eng Securities Pte. Ltd., Mizuho Bank, Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank to secure a loan amounting to up to $ 650 million.

The amount was used to finance TPI’s acquisition of indirect partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. through funds managed by Blackstone.

The Board of Investments ( BoI) and the Philippine Competition Commission ( PCC) approved TPI’s $ 1.2 billion acquisition on November 21 and December 19, respectively.

With the completion of the acquisition, TPI now has a 66.1 percent beneficial ownership interest in GNPower- Mariveles and a 40 percent beneficial ownership interest in GNPower - Dinginin, AboitizPower said.

The move is in line with the firm’s target to increase its attributable net capacity to 4,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020.

TPI, a wholly owned subsidiary of AboitizPower, is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in nonrenewable energy.

AboitizPower is engaged in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services. Incorporated in 1998, the listed firm now has interests in both renewable and non-renewable generation plants.