Excess subscription bonds IUH - Aqualectra collects 300 million

January 14, 2010 5:50 AM

The bond issue of Integrated Utility Holding (IUH, “Aqualectra”) to which interested parties had less than three days to respond has turned out to be successful.

Aqualectra collected over 300 million guilders (300,045,000) between December 19 and 22, last year, whereas the company had 240 million guilders in mind. So financiers appear to have much confidence in the plans and management of this utility company.

With an interest varying between 4 and 6 percent, this loan provides Aqualectra with relatively cheap capital. For instance, cumulative preferred stockholder Marubeni, which Aqualectra always had to pay 16.75 percent interest on its 40 million dollars invested in the utility company, is bought out. The contribution and interest Marubeni is entitled to approximately amount to 80 million guilders.

Furthermore, a loan of 72 million guilders with a local banking syndicate is refinanced with interest benefit: the loan percentage fluctuated between 6 and 7 percent with this syndicate loan. The remaining 88 million guilders of the 240 million guilders sought is meant to cover deficits in connection with the fuel costs of 2008.

Room for rate reduction
Because the cost of capital is a structural component of the utility price, this cheaper refinancing possibly provides room for a rate reduction.

As over 60 million guilders more has been collected than intended, the utility company has cash to fall back on.

This bond issue has terms of six or thirty years. Everyone receives his contribution at the end, of course. The profit depends on the interest rate at which one has subscribed. Furthermore, one person wants to receive much interest annually, whereas the other receives a little less interest annually during the term, but receives more on the entire term (“interest over interest”).

As in case of government bonds, the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles was intermediary in the sale of the Aqualectra bonds, although a few commercial banks would have liked to be the agent in this matter, also to earn the compensation for it.

Another 400 million
After this successful hunt for capital for (re)financing, the utility company wants to have another hunt for capital for investments later this year for at least 400 million guilders.

(Source: National newspaper Amigoe)

11 January, 2010

Mayesi Hammoud, Randolph van Eps and Focco Lunsingh Scheurleer of the law firm VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne assisted Aqualectra in this first tranche of a total of ANG 800 million corporate bond issue.