Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On November 9, 2017, ContourGlobal and Alpek S.A.B. de C.V.— a subsidiary of the Alfa Group that operates in the petrochemical industry —entered into a 60-day exclusivity period for ContourGlobal's prospective acquisition of two Alpek electric power cogeneration (also known as ‘combined heat and power’) plants in Cosoleacaque and Altamira, Mexico. Then, on January 6, 2019, a syndicate of banks, including Bank of China and ICBC, entered into an agreement with ContourGlobal Terra 3 S.à.r.l, a subsidiary of CounterGlobal PLC, for a USD 535 million term loan to acquire the two plants from Alpek. Additionally, CounterGlobal Terra 3 secured development rights and permits for a third plant. The loan facility carried a seven-year maturity. The remaining borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. The plants that the loan facility aided in the acquisition of were the Cosoleacaque Cogeneration Plant (CELCSA) plant, which began commercial operations in December 2014 with a capacity of 104MW, and the Altamira Cogeneration Plant (or CGA1 plant), whose commercial operations were slated to begin on September 11, 2019 with a capacity of 414MW, as well as the purchase of development rights and permits for a third plant adjacent to the Altamira plant, also with a planned capacity of 414 MW. Alpek agreed to sell its entire stake in the two companies that owned the CELCSA and CGA1 plants—Cogeneración de Energía Limpia de Cosoleacaque, S.A. de C.V. and Cogeneración de Altamira, S.A. de C.V. respectively— to ContourGlobal Terra 3 S.à.r.l. for a total amount of $801 million, comprising of a $724 million purchase price and $77 million refundable value added tax. The acquisition was completed on a debt free basis, and after the ownership transfer, the two plants were expected to continue supplying electricity and steam to various ALFA facilities in Mexico. Bank of China and ICBC's contributions to the syndicate loan are captured in Record ID #110057 and this record respectively.