Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, which does business as Bladex, closed a $368 million A/B loan facility, under IDB Invest´s A/B loan structure, and $27 million associated debt service reserve letter of credit facility for AES Dominicana Renewable Energy.
Bladex acted as joint lead arranger and bookrunner for the A/B facility, co-leading the structuring and syndication together were IDB Invest, JP Morgan and Scotiabank. While the debt service reserve letters of credit have been provided by Bladex, JP Morgan and Scotiabank, proceeds from the A/B facility have been used to refinance the existing debt associated with three operating renewable energy projects, and will also be used to fund construction of three additional photovoltaic facilities. Total capacity of the portfolio is expected to reach 390 MW by 2024.
The facility was fully underwritten by the joint lead arrangers and bookrunners. Following a successful syndication, the transaction was 2.2x oversubscribed with $482.5 million commitments from 22 banks. The syndicate group included Latin American regional banks, Caribbean banks, an impact investor and the Latin American branch of an Asian Bank, of which the majority are Bladex’s partner relationships.
“Bladex is very pleased to support AES renewable energy´s endeavors in the Dominican Republic. This transaction underlines Bladex´s project finance execution capabilities, the strong relationship with a leading global power generation and distribution player and, overall, our appetite for infrastructure assets. The facility adds to Bladex credentials of more than 70-plus syndicated transactions arranged by Bladex in the Latin American Region” Ivan Nuñez, head of infrastructure and project finance of Bladex, said.
