Talen Energy and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Talen Energy Supply, obtained a financing commitment led by GoldenTree Asset Management and Silver Point Finance for a first lien facility in the aggregate amount of $788 million maturing in September 2024.
Talen expects to use the proceeds from the financing to fund elevated commodity working capital requirements during the winter period, repay approximately $238 million of borrowings outstanding under its existing revolving credit facility and to pay transaction fees and expenses related to the new financing facility.
The closing of the proposed financing is subject to a majority vote of lenders under Talen’s existing revolving credit facility, the execution of definitive documentation and other customary closing conditions. Although Talen anticipates closing and entering into a definitive credit agreement by mid-December, there can be no assurance that it will enter into the new credit agreement under the terms described above, or at all.
“We are grateful for the capital, partnership and confidence of GoldenTree Asset Management, Silver Point Finance and our bank group,” Alex Hernandez, CEO of Talen, said. “This financing will unlock the value of our TES assets in this strong winter commodity environment while enabling Talen to continue executing our energy transition strategy to grow enterprise value for all of our stakeholders.”
“We are pleased to partner with Alex and his team to lead this important financing and advance the company’s strategic objectives,” Paul Ardire, principal at GoldenTree Asset Management, said. “Our firm’s philosophy is to partner with experienced, differentiated management teams, which we have done with Talen over the last several years. We believe there is significant value in TES’ asset base in this strong commodity environment and longer term as Talen executes its energy transition strategy to renewables and digital infrastructure.”
“Silver Point is pleased to work with Talen to provide a bespoke financing solution that addresses the company’s near-term liquidity needs in the context of what we believe is a very strong fundamental operating environment,” Edward Mulé, CEO and portfolio manager at Silver Point, said. “Silver Point has significant experience and a longstanding history of partnering with companies and management teams that we believe in, with the goal of advancing their business objectives. We are particularly excited by the underlying value of Talen’s generation portfolio and look forward to continuing to support the company as it plays a key role in the ongoing U.S. carbon-free energy transition.”
Talen retained White & Case and Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its legal advisors, and Evercore as its investment banker for this financing.