Loan syndication for power project closes

JAKARTA (JP): Lead arrangers Credit Suisse, Dresdner Bank, Sanwa Bank and Toronto-Dominion Bank announced yesterday that they had closed a syndication for the financing of two coal-fired power units in Paiton, East Java.

"The syndication for PT Jawa Power project was officially closed on June 21, with an oversubscription of approximately 80 percent," the lead arrangers said yesterday.

According to the statement, some 30 experienced international banks short-listed from 60 interested institutions were officially invited by the electricity project's sponsors and lead arrangers to road shows in Hong Kong and London in May.

The two power units will have a combined generating capacity of 1,220 megawatts (MW) and cost US$1.7 billion. They will be developed by PT Jawa Power, a joint venture company 50 percent owned by Siemens Power of Germany, 35 percent by PowerGen Plc. of Britain and 15 percent by PT Bumipertiwi Tatapradipta -- a subsidiary of Bimantara -- owned by President Soeharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo.

The 1,220 MW facility is scheduled to be commissioned in January 2000 and is expected to supply approximately 10 percent of Java island's electricity requirements through the sale of its power to the state-owned electricity company, PLN. (13)