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Gas plant developers issue US$30 million debt instrument
First debt instrument of $100 million multi-tranche note issued by Gasol plc to support Malta LNG power plant project
28 October 2013, 12:00am
Matthew Vella
Matthew Vella
1 min read
The $30 million debt instrument carries a 9% interest rate with a four-year maturity for December 2017.
The British firm at the heart of the Electrogas consortium, which will develop a 200MW gas plant at Delimara, has announced it will execute a multi-tranche, Euro Medium Term Note instrument - a debt instrument of $30 million (€21 million) that will be use to partly finance the company's liquefied natural gas project in Malta.
The is the first $30 million tranche of a maximum $100 million (€72 million) multi-tranche instrument that has been placed with institutional investors.
The note will have a 9% interest rate with a four-year maturity for December 2017. Interest is payable twice yearly.
The net proceeds will be used to support development work on the Electrogas Malta project, alongside Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, Siemens, and local investor group Gem Holdings of entrepreneurs George Fenech and Joe Gasan. The project is believed to carry a capital cost of €370 million.
The proceeds will also support Gasol's other project in the 678km West African Gas Pipeline for delivery to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana, where significant gas shortages exist.
"We are very pleased to have been able to successfully issue a further debt instrument in 2013," Gasol CEO Alan Buxton said. "The board welcomes the continued endorsement of the Company's business strategy from the institutional investment community. Gasol is now well positioned to move ahead with its outlined strategy."
Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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Better future - in any case these bonds were all sold to institutional investors and there are none available for the general public. There are plenty who will take the risk.
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Better future - of course it is risky. This bond has junk status. Just imagine - a project that is only on paper, no past history, technically challenging, cost of gas us unknown and even less known is the price Government will pay for the electricity generated and how much of it will be bought. This project is one whole gamble.
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I wonder why the coupon is 9% p.a.? Is there any area of considerable risk involved? Don't give the normal hogwash about every investment carrying risk, etc, etc, etc!
