PPC Power, a member of the PPC Energy Group holding (which is part of the Penta group), has entered into a five year SKK 5.6 billion (approx. EUR 183 million as of today) syndicated term loan facility. The purpose of the loan is to refinance current liabilities and other operational needs of PPC Power.
The senior term loan facility was signed on 9th of October 2008 with a consortium of five banks with UniCredit Group acting as Bookrunner, Mandated Lead Arranger as well as Agent and Dexia Bank Slovensko acting as Mandated Lead Arranger.
The Mandated Lead Arrangers have been joined in syndication by Tatra Banka, a.s., ING Bank and VÚB banka.
“The signing of the Senior Facility Agreement shows that the investment strategy for the PPC project was well chosen. The consortium’s confidence is especially valuable to us considering the fact that we acquired the loan at a time when the crisis on the financial markets is coming to a head,” said Jaroslav Haščák, Managing Partner of the Penta Investments.
Headquartered in Bratislava, PPC Energy Group is a holding company established at the end of 2007 in order to provide comprehensive services for the energy sector. Over the next five years, the holding plans to achieve production capacity of 1,000 MW within the Central and Eastern European region. PPC Power, which operates a 218 MW cogeneration plant (the former PPC steam-gas cycle), is part of the holding. The second member is PPC Energy, which is engaged in the construction of new energy sites and is currently building a 58 MW plant to be put in operation in late 2009. 2007 sales of the current holding’s production units reached SKK 3.2 billion (€ 107 million).