On 31 July 2013 TAURON Polska Energia, ING Bank Śląski, Bank Polska Kasa Opieki and BRE Bank signed agreement for bond issue program for the total value of up to PLN 5 billion. This is the second bond issue agreement signed by TAURON that day – earlier, the company signed agreement for arrangement and underwriting of a PLN 1 billion worth bond issue with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (Poland’s state-owned bank).
The agreement was signed for three years and under its provisions TAURON in cooperation with the banks that will act as issue arrangers and bookrunners, will issue bonds to selected investors. The agreement does not include bond issue underwriting, which means that the ultimate value of the issue and determination of its terms and conditions will take place after the bonds have been subscribed for. The funds acquired from the bond issue will be used mainly to finance TAURON Group’s capex program.
– Today’s agreements, worth up to PLN 6 billion in total – are yet another step in the execution of TAURON Group’s financing plan adopted by the Management Board in December 2012. So far, TAURON signed agreements for bond issues worth over PLN 7 billion, majority of which was used to finance investments in the Group. In 2013 we commissioned several generation units and signed agreements for, among others, construction of 50 MW coal-fired cogeneration unit in Tychy or 50 MW turbo generator in Dąbrowa Górnicza, and further significant investments are ahead of us – said Dariusz Lubera, CEO at TAURON Polska Energia.
In accordance with the provisions of the agreement the bonds will be uncollateralized and may be dematerialized at the National Securities Depository of Poland and listed in Alternative Trading System organized by the Warsaw Stock Exchange or BondSpot.
– In line with the program, the company will be able to conduct multiple bond issues adjusting the term and amount of acquired funds to the actual needs and the situation on the financial market. This will allow the company to optimize costs of external funding and diversify its sources – said Krzysztof Zawadzki, CFO at TAURON Polska Energia. – TAURON, by signing today’s agreements is consistently pursuing its strategy of Group’s capex financing based on the implemented centralized funding model – he added.
The bond issue program has been implemented by the TAURON Group since 2010. Under the program, in December 2010 TAURON signed PLN 1.3 billion worth bond issue agreement with a group of banks (the purpose of which was to refinance liabilities of TAURON Group’s subsidiaries and acquire funds to finance company’s general corporate needs), and a year later the company increased the value of the program to PLN 4.3 billion to finance the purchase of Górnośląski Zakład Elektroenergetyczny (2011). In 2012 the company increased the value of the bond issue program by another PLN 2.75 billion to finance the capex plan and cover general corporate needs.
