Boralex Completes $805 Million Refinancing for its Niagara Region Wind Farm (230 MW) in Ontario, Canada
September 24, 2020
Boralex Inc. was pleased to announce that it had completed the approximately $805 million refinancing over 16 years for its 230 MW Niagara Region Wind Farm (NRWF) in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. NRWF was commissioned on November 2, 2016 and is held in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River Indigenous community. Boralex operates the site and has a 50% stake in the farm.
“This is our third major refinancing in less than a year, which shows the confidence our financial partners have in Boralex and the execution of our strategic plan,” said Patrick Lemaire, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boralex. “These refinancings, totalling $2.7 billion, were arranged at very good conditions and have greatly improved Boralex’s financial flexibility, reducing its corporate credit facility by over $260 million and generating total annual recurring savings of $22 million. The NRWF refinancing will also improve the overall performance of this asset, benefiting both Boralex and our partner the Six Nations of the Grand River.”
Taking advantage of the very good market conditions, Boralex successfully reduced the borrowing rate for NRWF and also freed up approximately $65 million to $70 million, which will be used to reduce Boralex’s corporate credit facility. The combined impact of the lower borrowing rate and related expenses, plus the lower interest expense on the corporate credit facility will result in annual recurring savings of more than $5 million in interest expense.
Boralex was supported in this transaction by a group of seven banks. They are, in order of their respective participations in the total refinancing amount: KFW-Ipex Bank, CaixaBank, Fédération des Caisses Desjardins du Québec, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Associated Bank and Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC). Financial Advisor Plan A Capital Inc. was also instrumental in the success of this transactions.
“The Banks and our Financial Advisor were outstanding partners and I’d like to thank them for handling the refinancing in a period when financial markets were highly uncertain and volatile due to COVID-19,” said Bruno Guilmette, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Boralex. “The success of this transaction speaks to the commitment and confidence that financial institutions have in the renewable energy sector, which will be very important in making this sector a pillar in the economic recovery plans of governments around the world.”
