AEI Guatemala Plant Wraps Up Loan Syndication

AEI has closed a $350m 10-year term loan for construction of the 300MW Jaguar Energy Guatemala power plant, after tapping mostly regional lenders. The developer formerly known as Ashmore had sought a $500m A/B loan in 2008. But after waiting out the global credit crisis, it launched in December a single-tranche $350m 10-year loan paying Libor plus 575bp. It is led by Bancolombia and Cabei. Participants are: Guatemala’s Banco Industrial, G&T Continental, Banco Reformador and BAM, as well as HSBC, Panama’s Banco General and Costa Rica’s Bicsa. “With the regional banks we were able to have group of sophisticated lenders who could deliver quite fast,” Luis Alfredo Turizo, director of corporate finance at Bancolombia tells LatinFinance. The deal also features participation from the Biba Inversiones de Capital investment fund, administered by Bancolombia with commitments from Colombian pension funds. Turizo says this is the first fund of its kind under new legislation allowing for such investment. The project also counts on a $200m deferred payment financing from China Machine New Energy (CMNE), the contractor on the project. The facility is subordinate to the $350m loan, and is payable on project completion and convertible into equity at AEI’s option. CMNE is the first Chinese contractor to win an engineering, procurement and construction contract in Central America, says Turizo. Tickets on the loan were $10m-$50m, he adds, with the lead arrangers each committing $66.5m. The Jaguar plant near Puerto Quetzal has a 15-year power purchase agreement with local distribution companies owned by Spain’s Gas Natural, and should be online in 2013. Turizo says he expects to see more such regional lending groups in Central America.