The US$3.3bn debt funding package supporting Qatar's largest power plant, the Ras Laffan C independent water and power project (IWPP), is to be provided by export credit agencies and a large bank group.
The US$3.7bn Build-Operate-Own-Transfer (BOOT) project is sponsored by French utility firm Suez and Japanese trading house Mitsui, who were awarded preferred bidder status in March this year. The consortium has a 40% stake in the project, with the remainder divided between state-owned Qatar Petroleum (15%) and Qatar Electricity and Water Company (45%).
The banks providing a US$1.5bn, 25-year club deal paying a margin of 105-160 basis points are Arab Bank, Apicorp, Banco Santander, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi-UFJ, BNP Paribas, BBVA, Credit Mutuel CIC, Depfa Bank, Dexia, Export Development Canada, Fortis, HSBC, KBC, KfW, Qatar National Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, SMBC and Sumitomo Trust and Banking.
The loan facility reportedly features a balloon payment with a cash sweep from 15 years. The margin breakdown is believed to be 105 bps over Libor pre-completion, with a post-completion step-up from 100 bps in the first eight years to 115 bps in the next five, 135 bps in the subsequent five, and finally to 160 bps for the remainder of the 25-year tenor.
Royal Bank of Scotland is financial advisor on the transaction.
Supplementing the commercial loan is a US$1.5bn overseas investment loan (Oil), provided by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), which is believed to have a tenor of 27 years, and a US$300mn untied facility, also with a 27-year tenor, guaranteed by Italian export credit agency Sace.
Qatar is planning extensive investment, totalling some US$30bn in its power and water sector. The Ras Laffan C plant, which should start production by April 2011, will provide 2,730 megawatts of electricity and more than 286,000 cubic metres of desalinated water a day.
Last Updated June 06, 2008
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