PRESS RELEASE

  • Romania's Electrica raises RON 750 million for funding the expansion on electricity value chain, including production from renewable sources

Bucharest, November 3, 2021 - Societatea Energetica Electrica S.A., one of the leading players in Romania's electricity distribution and supply market, today announced that it has signed a RON 750 million financing deal with Erste Group Bank AG and Raiffeisen Bank România S.A. Electrica will employ the loan, which corresponds to roughly EUR 150 million, to finance the implementation of its strategy for the period 2019-2023, which also envisages expanding on the value chain of electricity, especially in the production of electricity and with a particular focus on renewable sources and value-addes services.

The RON 750 million facility has a tenor of maximum two years with the option at the end of the period for Electrica, in agreement with the Lenders, to either issue a bond or to convert the facility into a 5-year fully amortising loan. For this facility, Erste Group and Raiffeisen Bank Romania serve as lenders on an equal basis and Erste Group's Romanian subsidiary Banca Comercială Română (BCR) acts as Facility & Security Agent. In this transaction, Electrica Group was assisted by a team of consultants from the law firm Filip and Company, while the Lenders were assisted by Dentons Europe - Zizzi-Caradja & Asociații.

"As an important step towards putting Electrica Group strategy of inorganic growth into action, the signing of this milestone financing agreement with two of our partner banks will enable us to finance the acquisition of projects in the sector of renewable energy production, both operating and greenfield, reaffirming our commitment to contribute with our own efforts towards the fulfilment of the European Ecological Pact's environmental goals", said Corina Popescu, General Manager of Electrica SA.

"The EUR 150 million financing deal that we've reached with Electrica provides another example of how Erste Group is supporting companies in the CEE region in their transition to a greener future by financing renewables and improvements to power grids," said Radu Moldovan, Industry Lead for Energy and Infrastructure at Erste

Group.

"Banca Comercială Română is a close partner for Electrica, being an active supporter across the full range of products and services for all companies in the Electrica group.

9, Grigore Alexandrescu street, District 1, Bucharest, 010621

Email: comunicare@electrica.ro / Tel: 021.208.59.99 / Fax: 021.208.59.98

This new syndicated loan, provided through Erste Group, consolidates our journey together", said Ramona Kurko, Head of Energy and Utilities at BCR.

"As a financial institution we know that supporting customers to achieve their sustainability goals, comes with financing transactions as the EUR 150 million loan signed today with Electrica SA, since by channelling funds towards eligible projects that will ensure the transition to a sustainable economy, we are generating value for society as a whole and have a positive impact.The financing deal with Electrica is the perfect example how we do banking in a responsible way, using our financing and advisory products and services to enable companies transition to new sustainable business model, with a view to long term prosperity of the market we operate in" said Cătălin

Cepișcă, Senior Manager, Energy, Utilities and Metals Department at Raiffeisen Bank.

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Erste Group

Erste Group is the leading financial services provider in the eastern part of the EU. Its ca. 45,000 employees serve over 16 million customers in around 2,100 branches in 7 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia). For the first 9 month of 2021, Erste Group had EUR 309 billion in total assets, posted a net profit of EUR 1.45 million and had a common equity tier 1 ratio (CET1, final) of 14.2%.

Raiffeisen Bank Romania

Raiffeisen Bank is one of the universal banks in the top 5 in Romania and has in its portfolio 2.2 million customers, individuals and legal entities. The bank has over 4,600 employees, 300 agencies across the country, 700 ATMs, 400 multifunctional machines (MFMs) and a network of over 24,400 POS. At the end of June 2021, over 60% of Raiffeisen Bank's 300 units operated digital cash registers, so that agency employees could provide counselling for digital education and service to our clients' needs.

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Electrica Group is a key player in the electricity distribution and supply market in Romania, as well as one of the most important players in the energy services sector.

Electrica Group provides services to about 3.8 million users and has national coverage - with a coverage of 18 counties from three geographical areas for the distribution of electricity: Transilvania Nord, Transilvania Sud, Muntenia Nord, and across the country for the supply of electricity and for maintenance and energy services.

As of July 2014, Electrica has become a company with private majority capital, listed on the Bucharest and London stock exchanges. Electrica is the only listed Romanian company in the field of electricity distribution and supply in Romania.

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More information about Electrica Group can be found on the company's website www.electrica.ro.

9, Grigore Alexandrescu street, District 1, Bucharest, 010621

Email: comunicare@electrica.ro / Tel: 021.208.59.99 / Fax: 021.208.59.98

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Societatea Energetică Electrica SA published this content on 03 November 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 November 2021 16:14:01 UTC.