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Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund to Issue $225 Million Senior Secured Bonds
Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund to Issue $225 Million Senior Secured Bonds.
About this update from Brookfield Renewable Partners Lp
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n STOCK SYMBOL: GLH.UN/TSX\n\nGATINEAU, QC, Sept. 30 /CNW Telbec/ - Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund \n(GLH.UN: TSX) today announced that it will issue, through a private placement,\n$225 million of senior secured bonds maturing in 20 years and bearing an\ninterest rate of 5.6 percent per annum. The transaction is expected to close\nOctober 6, 2005.\nThe senior bonds are secured by the LiGevre Power System. The net proceeds\nof the offering will be used to repay a $125 million bridge loan, all\noutstanding amounts on the current bank facilities and the capital expended\nfor the construction of the 9 MW Cedar Dam hydroelectric generating station.\nThe remaining proceeds will be used to partially fund future acquisitions or\nto support the Fund's 20 year capital expenditure plan.\n\"We are extremely pleased with the favourable interest rate on this debt\nfinancing. The LiGevre Power system generates stable, long-term cash flow and\nis an ideal asset for a long-term financing,\" said Richard Legault, President\nand Chief Executive Officer of the Fund. \"The size of the financing allows us\nto fully fund our Cedar Dam project through long-term debt and to reduce our\ncapital expenditure reserve by $1.5 million per year by repaying all amounts\noutstanding on our current bank facility.\"\nThe senior bonds have been assigned a preliminary rating of A (low), with\na Stable trend, by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited (DBRS).\nCIBC World Markets and Trilon Securities acted as agents for this\nfinancing.\n\nABOUT GREAT LAKES HYDRO INCOME FUND\n\nGreat Lakes Hydro Income Fund produces electricity exclusively from\nenvironmentally friendly hydroelectric resources. The Fund owns, operates and\nmanages five integrated hydroelectric generation systems located in Ontario,\nQuebec, New England and British Columbia comprising 24 hydroelectric\ngenerating stations, with installed capacity of 986 MW and significant water\nstorage. The facilities generate, on average, 3,700 GWh of electricity\nannually, with interconnections to the Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and\nNew England power grids, respectively.\nBrascan Power, which comprises all the power operations of Brookfield\nAsset Management (currently Brascan Corporation), owns 50.1% of the Fund's\noutstanding units.\nGreat Lakes Hydro Income Fund units are listed for trading on the To...