US power producer Mirant, which recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, plans to raise around $1.2 billion in a refinancing deal for its core Philippine assets, a source close to the matter said on Monday.
"It would be almost like a loan to generate some cash," the source told Reuters. "It's at a very preliminary stage ... They are in the process of beginning negotiations (with prospective investors)."
A spokesman for Mirant, the largest foreign investor and the biggest private power provider in the Philippines, declined to comment. The source said the $1.2 billion represents around half of the estimated value of the two assets, a 1,200 megawatt plant in Sual, northern Philippines, and a 735 megawatt plant in Pagbilao in the east of the country.
Reuters reported in February that Mirant, which owns or leases more than 18,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity globally, had hired investment bank Credit Suisse to explore options for its Philippine assets.
The management of Atlanta-based Mirant told analysts and investors in a presentation earlier this month that it intended to recapitalise a couple of major plants in the south-east Asian country.
The management declined to answer questions at the conference on whether they planned to sell out of the Philippines, a move long desired by some of the region's power investors because of the country's political uncertainty.
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