CGE Gets Bridge for Emel Purchase

Chile’s Compania General de Electricidad (CGE) has secured $515m in credit to help fund the purchase of electricity distributor EMEL. The loan consists of a CLP76bn ($150m) tranche due 2008, a $212m tranche due in December and a $150m tranche due 2008. BBVA provided the debt. CGE agreed to buy 95.4% of EMEL for $660m. CGE claims that the Emel takeover will make it Chile’s largest electricity distributor by number of clients.