AboitizPower secures $300-M loan for stake in Ayala unit

Aboitiz Power Corp. yesterday said it has signed a deal for a $300-million loan from a consortium of foreign banks, the proceeds of which would be used to acquire a 60-percent stake in an affiliate of the Ayala group.

AboitizPower said in a regulatory filing the lenders included DBS Bank Ltd., Mizuho Bank Ltd., MUFG Bank Ltd. and Standard Chartered Bank.

“The proceeds of the loan will be used to partially finance the acquisition … of 49-percent voting stake and 60-percent economic stake in AA Thermal Inc.,” the company said.

In February, the Philippine Competition Commission approved AboitizPower’s $579.2-million purchase of shares in AA Thermal.

In a two-page decision, the government’s antitrust body said the transaction would not likely affect competition in the relevant markets for power generation and retail electricity supply in Luzon and the Visayas.

The regulator said this was so considering AboitizPower was acquiring only a minority stake—49 percent—in AA Thermal.

It also noted there would be no change of control in the operating companies: GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co.

According to AboitizPower, the acquisition was in line with its goal of building a portfolio of 4,000 megawatts of net attributable capacity by 2020 through a “balanced mix” strategy.

AA Thermal has limited partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant, the owner and operator of a 632-MW coal plant complex in Mariveles, Bataan, which has been operating since 2013.

AA Thermal also has interest in GNPower Dinginin, developer and owner of a crucial coal plant project in Dinginin, Bataan, designed with two generators with capacities of 668 MW each, and which is still under construction.

The acquisition will raise AboitizPower’s beneficial ownership in the Mariveles project to 78.325 percent, and in the Dinginin project to 70 percent.