PETALING JAYA: Yinson
Production, the offshore energy business of Yinson Holdings Bhd, has priced US$1.458bil in senior secured notes to refinance existing debt related to its Agogo floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
In a statement, Yinson Production said the notes were issued by Yinson Azalea Production Pte Ltd, which owns the Agogo FPSO operating offshore in Angola.
The notes are fully amortising with a scheduled maturity of 13.3 years and were priced at 98.164% of their principal amount with a fixed coupon of 6.517% per annum payable semi-annually.
“The proceeds from the transaction will be used to, amongst other things, refinance the existing outstanding debt related to the Agogo FPSO, fund reserve accounts as required under the new bond issue (unless funded by a reserve account facility), pay for transaction-related fees and expenses, and for equity distributions from excess proceeds,” Yinson Production said.
The notes are expected to settle on Oct 21, with an application made for them to be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market.
Fitch and Moody’s have assigned expected ratings of BBB+ and BAA2, respectively, to the notes.
The Agogo FPSO is leased to Azule Energy Angola SpA and operates at Block 15/06 offshore in Angola under a 15-year firm bareboat charter, with extension options of up to five years.
Yinson Production chief financial officer Markus Wenker said the group was very pleased with the strong support from institutional investors for the offering, which is its third FPSO project bond in three years and sets a new benchmark as the largest FPSO project bond to date.
“It represents an important milestone for the asset class as a whole, as this is the first FPSO project bond outside Brazil, broadening and diversifying the investable universe for investors seeking exposure to infrastructure assets backed by highly visible cash flows and strong counterparties.
“The transaction demonstrates the availability of long-term capital to the FPSO industry, reinforces the merits of the lease-and-operate model, and further strengthens Yinson Production’s capital structure,” he said in a statement.
Yinson Production is a leading independent owner and operator of FPSO vessels worldwide.
It has a fleet of 11 vessels with an order book of US$19bil until 2050 and global presence in 12 countries.
