Ex-Im Bank Signs Agreement to Support Turkish Borrower's Purchase of Reduced-Emissions Power Generation Equipment
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| Workers at GE Energy, Houston, Texas, assemble GE LM6000PC SPRINT® low-emission gas turbine generators to be sold by GE Energy to Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S. (Aksa), a private Turkish power generation company. Ex-Im Bank is guaranteeing a JP Morgan Chase Bank loan to Aksa to buy the equipment to be installed in a 238-megawatt power plant in Turkey's Antalya region. |
Under the $99.7 million credit agreement signed in Istanbul by Ex-Im Bank and Aksa, GE Energy, Houston, Texas, will sell four LM6000PC SPRINT® gas turbine generator sets to Aksa for a 238-megawatt power plant in Turkey's Antalya region.
The export transaction meets the criteria of Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program due to the low NOx (nitrogen oxide compounds) emissions produced by GE's aeroderivative gas turbines. Aksa's new plant will address current power shortages in the rapidly growing Antalya region and begin operation in 2008.
The credit agreement covers a $99.7 million loan from JP Morgan Chase Bank to Aksa where GE Capital Markets Services, Inc. acted as the financial advisor. Ex-Im Bank will guarantee $55 million of the Chase loan and the remainder will be guaranteed by three other export credit agencies (ECAs): HEXIM (Hungary), Coface (France), and EDC (Canada). It is the first time Ex-Im Bank has concluded a credit agreement involving co-financing with more than two other ECAs. Co-financing reduces the time and expense of ECA financing by allowing borrowers to sign a single credit agreement rather than multiple agreements.
This transaction supports U.S. exports and jobs and at the same time will play an important role in helping Turkey meet power needs in the Antalya region, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President James H. Lambright. We look forward to establishing long-term relations with Aksa and with companies in other sectors of the Turkish economy.
Ex-Im Bank's exposure in Turkey currently comes to nearly $2 billion dollars.
This successful transaction is one of our first experiences working with Ex-Im Bank and U.S. industries, said Sami Aksemsettinoglu, advisor to the board of directors of Kazanci Holding, Aksa's parent company. We very much appreciate Ex-Im Bank's professional performance and, with Ex-Im Bank's help, hope to continue working with American companies.
Under Ex-Im Bank's Environmental Exports Program, Aksa is eligible for capitalization of interest during construction. Aksa also received a 12-year repayment term on the transaction and support for local (buyer country) costs related to the project's site preparation and construction services.
Ex-Im Bank is the official export-credit agency of the United States. The independent, self-sustaining federal agency, now in its 74th year, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans. In fiscal year 2007, Ex-Im Bank authorized $12.6 billion in financing to support an estimated $16 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.