First Gen pares debt, retires bonds

First Gen Corp. has retired a portion of the $300 million worth of fixed-rate notes listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

The power company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday that the notes carry an interest rate of 6.5 percent a year and are due in 2023.

“As part of (First Gen’s) debt reduction plan, we purchased some of its US-dollar (denominated) bonds listed on the Singapore Exchange,” First Gen senior vice president Emmanuel P. Singson said in a text message.

Singson, who is also First Gen’s chief financial officer and treasurer, declined to say how much of the $300 million in notes were purchased.

As of June 30, First Gen has about $715.78 million in current liabilities, just over a fifth of its $3.36 billion in total liabilities.

Earlier this month, the company brought in a new strategic partner in Energy Development Corp. with Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp. (PREHC) getting a 31.7-percent stake in EDC for $1.3 billion.

PREHC is a consortium of investors comprising funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Mira), and Arran Investment Pte Ltd (Arran), an affiliate of GIC Pte Ltd.

Together, MIRA and GIC own and operate a combined installed capacity of over 11,000 megawatts in assets spread across the globe.

Under the new partnership, First Gen keeps its majority stake in EDC and will maintain day-to-day control of the company.

The partners said in a joint statement their collaboration brings together First Gen’s significant experience in the power, utilities and energy sectors in the Philippines and PREHC’s extensive global infrastructure expertise “to support the long-term growth of EDC.”

EDC has 1,471 megawatts of clean and renewable power assets under its portfolio, being the largest pure-play renewable energy firm in the Philippines.