MANILA — The board of Semirara Mining Corp. has authorized the execution of several conditions in favor of its bank lenders in connection with the syndicated term loan of up to P14 billion to be secured by its wholly-owned subsidiary Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLGC).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Semirara said the loan would be used to partially finance the design, engineering, procurement, construction and operation of SLGC's 300 megawatt (2x150 MW) coal-fired power plant project located in Calaca, Batangas.
The board approved Semirara's pledge of 67 percent of its voting shares in SLGC, approved the interim corporate surety from Semirara that will guarantee the repayment of all interim obligations under SLGC's project debt facility agreement and shareholder's support to Semirara to fund the construction cost overruns via equity or subordinated loans
The Semirara board last year approved the expansion of an additional 300 megawatt (MW) capacity alongside the existing 600 MW Calaca coal-fired power plant in Batangas.
The Calaca facility consists of two 300 MW generating units and is primarily designed to run as a base-load plant. It is also designed to utilize local coal from Semirara.
Semirara's parent firm DMCI Holdings Inc. bought the Calaca plant from the government in July 2009 for US$ 361.7 million. Semirara, whose mining operations is located in Antique, is the country's largest coal producer. (PNA)
RMA/ASF/rsm
