EDC raises $192 million in debt for geothermal entity
Apart from the 192 million in loans, EDC will also be buying-back own shares of up to $90.5 million for the next two years
According to Deal Street Asia, and in a disclosure to the stock exchange, EDC said that it had, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Green Core Georhermal Inc (GCGI), completed the execution of separate loan agreements with – the Asia United Bank Corp, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank, Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp, Robinsons Bank Corp, and Union Bank of the Philippines – for a total of P8.5 billion.
BDO Capital & Investment Corp acted as sole arranger in the transaction.
In another disclosure to the exchange, the company has revealed that it would be buying-back it’s own shares of up to P4 billion ($90.5 million) in the trade market, during the next two years.
According to the company, the two year buy-back initiative that will begin on March 15, 2015, is part of the company’s commitment to use cash for the benefit of its shareholders and employees. “At today’s price of P8.86 per share, the P4.0 billion is equivalent to approximately 2.4 per cent of the company’s total outstanding common shares,” EDC said in its statement.
It now has more than 1,400 megawatts under its green power portfolio diversified by the acquisition of a hydropower project and wind power projects.
In September last year, GCGI had acquired two geothermal power plants, the 112.5-MW Tongonan 1 and 192.5-MW Palinpinon plants located in Leyte and Negros Oriental, respectively, in an auction conducted by the Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management (Psalm) — submitting the highest complying financial bid of $220 million.
GCGI is a subsidiary of First Luzon Geothermal Energy Corp, which is wholly owned by EDC.
Source: Deal Street Asia