Sep 2006 Financial News

RBTT closes Costa Rica deal

Sep 14, 2006

The Central American representative office of RBTT Merchant Bank Limited, located in Costa Rica, recently closed a US$100 million refinancing transaction for Hidroenergia del General (HdG).

HdG is a Costa Rican company that owns the Rio General Hydroelectric Project, a hydroelectric power plant located approximately 50 kilometers from the capital of San Jose.

This US$100 million facility follows the original financing of US$64 million, which RBTT Merchant provided to fund the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the 40-megawatt hydroelectric plant.

The US$100 million facility is structured as a syndicated loan and the syndicate will comprise institutional investors from the United States, the Caribbean and Central America.

According to RBTT, the Costa Rican government is relying on this and other hydroelectric projects to try to reduce the breach between supply and demand for energy in Costa Rica in the short term.

Energy demand has been growing at about six percent per year since 1987. This rate of growth is expected to continue over the near to medium term, economic reports out of Costa Rica indicate.

In 2003, the Merchant Bank financed US$10 million for an existing hydroelectric plant built and operated in Costa Rica by Hidroelectrica Platanar, a major shareholder in the HdG project.


Source:

The Trinidad Newsday
Thursday 14th September