Costa Rica’s ICE to Raise $380m in Long-Dated Loans

ICE, Costa Rica’s national power and telecom company, will in the next two months raise $381m in long-term financing via the IDB and the syndicated loan market to support its infrastructure development in that country. The IDB is targeting a $200m 15-year A loan and a $181m 12-year B loan that will be syndicated out in the bank market. An official close to the process says using project finance-like covenants on the facility will allow lenders to monitor performance of the borrower and the loan over time. This is also the first IDB loan to a quasi-sovereign without a sovereign guarantee, marking a deliberate effort by the multilateral to broaden its private sector mandate. A bank meeting will be held in the second week of January and syndication will likely be wrapped up by the end of February.