GMR Group achieves financial closure for the InterGen Refinance Transaction.
Infrastructure major GMR Infra has achieved financial closure for the refinancing of short term loan of USD 737 mn by a five year facility. The refinancing was done by a combination of Senior and Mezzanine Debt from a consortium of banks led by Axis Bank and ICICI Bank, consisting of major Indian banks including Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Exim Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and Syndicate Bank.
It may be recalled that in October 2008, GMR Group had successfully bid for and acquired 50% stake in InterGen NV, one of the major IPPs in the world for USD 1.2 bn, a part of the acquisition cost was funded by the Short Term Bridge Loan for two years. The loan, due for repayment in October 2010, has now been successfully refinanced well in advance of the due date.
Despite increasing spreads in the foreign currency markets, the pricing was achieved on competitive terms for a longer tenor of five years. The current transaction underscores the strong fundamentals of InterGen business and reaffirms the confidence of the Indian banks in GMR Group.
About InterGen
InterGen is a global power generation company with twelve power plants representing a total generation capacity of 8,088 MW (6,254 net equity MW). InterGen is jointly owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. InterGen’s plants are located in the UK, the Netherlands, Mexico, the Philippines and Australia. The Company has beneficial interests in generation assets through a combination of Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) and coal technologies. Almost 90% of its power generation is gas-fired while the remainder comes from coal.
With more than 80% percent of its Generation Capacity tied up in medium to long term contracts, InterGen has successfully weathered the recession in UK and elsewhere. It is rightfully now poised to encash its technically advanced facilities at the first available signs of market recovery. The original rating of BB- secured by the company way back in 2007 continues to be maintained by InterGen for the last three years in a row despite passing through difficult times, which speaks a lot about the certainty and quality of InterGen’s cash flows.
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InterGen is also readying to accelerate its 4000 MW expansion plans in UK, Netherlands, USA and Philippines.
About GMR Group
GMR Group is a Bangalore headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure.. Besides its stake in InterGen, the Company has thirteen power projects of which three are operational (823 MW) and ten (7648 MW) are under various stages of implementation and nine road projects, of which six are operational (421 km) and three are under development (309 km). In the Airports sector, it has developed and commissioned the Greenfield International Airport at Hyderabad. The Group, besides operating and modernizing the existing Delhi International Airport, has built a brand new integrated terminal T3 which was commissioned on 3rd of July 2010. It has also built a new terminal, designed to handle 20 million passenger capacity, at the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Turkey and is operating it successfully. GMR has recently won the bid to expand and operate Malé International Airport.. The Group is also committed to social development initiatives and executes these through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF).
For further information about GMR Group, visit www.gmrgroup.in