Lehman Brothers has landed the lead spot for the financing backing ArcLight Capital Partners and Caithness Energy's $558 million acquisition of 12 power plants and a natural gas pipeline from National Energy & Gas Transmission, according to Power, Finance & Risk, an LMW sister publication. Dan Revers, managing partner in Boston, said ArcLight has yet to determine the debt-to-equity mix of the financing or the size of the "B" loan. The loan, if secured against the contracted generation assets and the pipeline, is anticipated to draw strong lender support, said one banker. "It'll be a blow-out," he declared.
The coal and gas-fired generators were sold by the former PG&E National Energy Group, as part of its emergence from bankruptcy protection. Lehman also advised on the acquisition. With bullish sentiment in the high-yield market, Arclight/Caithness will be looking to achieve pricing of around 2% over LIBOR, said the financier, but he noted that commercial banks and even the bond market might be able to provide better pricing, depending on the credit rating of the offtakers.