ICBC contributes $15 million to $219.5 million syndicated loan for the 267MW El Bracho Gas-Fired Power Plant and the 107MW Loma Campana II Thermal Power Plant Projects

Project narrative

On June 20, 2017, financial close was reached on a deal in which a syndicate of nine banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), entered into a $219.50 million senior secured term loan agreement with Y-Gen Eléctrica S.R.L. and Y-Gen Eléctrica II S.R.L. — special purpose vehicles (SPVs) jointly owned by YPF Energia Eléctrica S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales S.A. (YPF) [66.67% equity stake] and GE Energy Financial Services, the energy investing unit of General Electric (GE) [33.33% equity stake] — for the 267 MW El Bracho Gas-Fired Power Plant and the 107 MW Loma Campana II Thermal Power Plant Projects. This loan carried a maturity of five years, a final maturity date of June 20, 2022, an initial interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 400 basis points (bps) during construction, and then an initial interest rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 650 bps after construction. ICBC contributed $15.00 million. In addition to ICBC, the following lenders contributed the respective amount to the loan syndicate: Citibank N.A. ($45.00 million), Credit Suisse AG ($60.00 million), Export Development Canada (EDC) ($45.00 million), HSBC Bank ($12.50 million), Banco de Galicia ($15.00 million), Banco Supervielle ($11.00 million), Banco Hipotecario ($11.00 million), and Bancaribe Curacao Bank ($5.00 million). Citibank, Credit Suisse, and EDC served as joint lead arrangers. Citibank served as administrative agent, bookrunner, swap provider, account bank and the Argentine Branch of Citibank served as trustee and collateral agent.. The loan was collateralized with (1) a pledge on the financed assets of the two project companies (Y-Gen Eléctrica S.R.L. and Y-Gen Eléctrica II S.R.L.) and (2) a pledge of the equity stakes in two project companies ((Y-Gen Eléctrica S.R.L. and Y-Gen Eléctrica II S.R.L.). The loan proceeds were to be used by the borrowers for the construction and operations of the 267MW El Bracho Power Plant, a gas-fired power plant in Central El Bracho, Tucumán Province and the 107MW Loma Campana II Power Plant in a thermal power plant in Añelo, Neuquén Province. The projects were also supported by $94.00 million in equity from the sponsors: $62.67 million USD from YPF and $31.33 million from GE. On June 21, 2016, YPF and GE signed an agreement to begin construction on the El Bracho plant with GE's F9.04 turbines; El Bracho was scheduled to come online by January 31, 2018 and produce enough power for 280,000 families, to be interconnected with the national SADI power grid and with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico SA (CAMMESA) The Loma Campana II Power Plant was expected to enter commercial operations in December 2017; it also had a PPA with CAMMESA. General Electric was the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for both projects. By financial close, both projects were already over halfway through construction. Loma Campana II began operations in November 2017 and El Bracho began operations on January 27, 2018 after 16 months of construction..