Montréal, Québec, March 6, 2012 - On March 1st,
at the Project Finance Americas Deals of the Year 2011 Award
Dinner, held in New York City, representatives of Boralex
Inc. (Boralex), Gaz Métro Limited Partnership (Gaz Métro) and
Valener Inc. (Valener) accepted a prize for the complex
financing structure of the Seigneurie de Beaupré 2 & 3 wind
farms. This award is in addition to the one received at the
2011 Project Finance International (PFI) Awards in London
last January 25.
Rewarded as the North American Wind Deal of the Year 2011,
the first phase of this wind project, characterised by
20-year power purchase agreements, led to a financing of $725
million, which closed on November 8, 2011. It will be
recalled that a tranche of $260 million of the financing is
covered by a guarantee offered to the lenders by the Federal
Republic of Germany through Euler-Hermes, its export credit
agency.
The financing of the Seigneurie de Beaupré 2 & 3 wind farms
is standing out for its unique structure, as well as for
bringing in atypical investors in this type of project
financing. This truly complex financing is probably the
largest ECA financing ever for a North American renewables
project, as mentioned by Project Finance Magazine.
"The support of Québec funds - Caisse de dépôt et placement
du Québec and Investissement Québec-, usually absent from
this type of financing, as well as that of foreign
institutions, in the tumultuous financial markets experienced
in 2011, reflect our creative effort to find new debt
sources, but also the exceptional quality and the unique
composition of our financing structure," said Patrick
Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex,
and Sophie Brochu, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Gaz Métro.
The original group of lenders is composed of: KfW IPEX-Bank,
Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ, Deutsche Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui
Banking Corporation, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Mizuho
Corporate Bank, Siemens Financial and the Caisse de dépôt et
placement du Québec. Following the closing of the financing,
three financial institutions joined the group of lenders:
Investissement Québec, DZ Bank and AKA Bank, some of the
original lenders having assigned a portion of their
commitment.
Through its Deals of the Year Awards, Project Finance has,
for the past 13 years, rewarded deals concluded in the
Americas. This year, winners in the
20 categories were selected based on criteria such as
innovation, problem solving, risk mitigation and value for
money. All deals were vetted via a weighting
system by a panel of journalists from Project Finance
Magazine and independent industry representatives. Each year,
an average of 300 to 350 of the best deals are reviewed for
these awards.
The Seigneurie de Beaupré Wind Farms, with a total contracted capacity of 366 MW, are as of today the largest wind power project in development in Canada. The first phase of 272 MW (Farms
2 & 3), which is expected to start up in late 2013, and the second phase of 69 MW (Farm 4), which is expected to start operating in late 2014, represent the projects of the Boralex and Gaz Métro/Valener consortium. In addition, the 25 MW Côte-de-Beaupré wind farm built by Boralex in partnership with the Côte-de-Beaupré RCM is expected to start up in 2015.
About BoralexBoralex is a power producer whose core business dedicated to the development and the operation of renewable energy power stations. Currently, the Corporation operates an asset base with an installed capacity of nearly 500 MW in Canada, the Northeastern United States and France. Boralex is also committed under power development projects, both independently and with European and Canadian partners, to add approximately 400 MW of power. With more than
200 employees, Boralex is known for its diversified expertise and in-depth experience in four power generation types - wind, hydroelectric, thermal and more recently, solar. Boralex's shares and convertible debentures are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols BLX and BLX.DB, respectively. More information is available at www.boralex.com or www.sedar.com.
About Gaz Métro and ValenerWith over $3.7 billion in assets, Gaz Métro is Quebec's leading natural gas distributor. Its
10,000 kilometre network
serves 300 municipalities. Gaz Métro has operated in this
regulated industry since 1957 and is the trusted energy
provider of its customers in Quebec and Vermont, who choose
natural gas for its competitive price, efficiency, comfort
and environmental benefits. Gaz Métro is also present in the
electricity distribution market, natural gas transportation
and storage, the development of innovative energy projects
such as wind power, natural gas as fuel for the
transportation industry and biomethanation. Gaz Métro is
committed to the satisfaction of its customers, Partners (Gaz
Métro inc. and Valener), employees and the communities it
serves. www.gazmetro.com
Valener owns an economic
interest of approximately 29% in Gaz Métro. Valener therefore
has a stake in the energy industry and benefits from Gaz
Métro's diversified profile, both in terms of geography and
business segment. Valener also owns an indirect interest of
24.5% in the wind power projects developed with Gaz Métro and
Boralex on the private lands of Séminaire de Québec. Valener
may also pursue its own development projects and acquisition
strategies subject to a non-competition agreement in favour
of Gaz Métro and to applicable limitations under its credit
facility. Valener's common shares are listed on the Toronto
Stock Exchange under the "VNR" trading symbol.
www.valener.com
- 30 -
Media | |
Andréan Gagné Communications Advisor Boralex Inc. 514-985-1353 andrean.gagne@boralex.com | Audrey Giguère Advisor, Media and Public Relations Gaz Métro 514-598-3449 |
Investor Relations | |
Marc Jasmin Boralex Inc. | Caroline Warren Senior Advisor, Investor Relations |
514-284-9868 marc.jasmin@boralex.com
Gaz Métro
514-598-3324 cwarren@gazmetro.com