KUALA LUMPUR (May 2): Yinson Production, the offshore production business unit of Yinson Holdings Bhd, has closed the limited recourse term loan facility of up to US$1.3 billion (RM6.2 billion) for the pre- and post-delivery financing of the Agogo floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will be deployed in Angola.
Yinson Production chief financial officer Markus Wenker said the term loan facility is the company's single largest financing to date. On top of that, he said the commercial multi-tranche structure of the facility is also the first of its kind in the industry.
"This transaction is a significant milestone for Yinson Production. It not only is our single largest financing to date, but the commercial multi-tranche structure — the first of its kind in the industry — significantly increases the efficiency of the financing compared to traditional structures, whilst diversifying the funding base by combining different lender groups in a single transaction," he said in a statement on Thursday.
The financing is provided by a consortium of 13 lenders, led by Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Ltd who acted as the global coordinating bank, and will be utilised over the course of the construction of the FPSO, Yinson Production said.
"The financing comprises three pari-passu secured tranches with staggered maturities of up to 10 years post-delivery of the FPSO. Subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, the financing will become non-recourse post-delivery of the FPSO," it added.
The term loan was secured within three weeks after Yinson raised US$500 million from five-year senior secured bonds that carry a fixed coupon of 9.625% that it announced on April 19.
As at Jan 31, Yinson's net borrowing stood at RM13.31 billion, up 66% from the RM8.01 billion recorded a year ago.
Notably, Yinson has outstanding perpetual bonds amounting to RM1.3 billion. These include a five-year, 7.5% RM360 million perpetual sukuk with its first call date in the fourth quarter of 2027 (4Q2027), and a 15-year, 6.8% RM950 million sukuk, callable in May 2033.
In February 2023, Yinson Production entered into a firm contract for the provision, operation and maintenance of the Agogo FPSO with Azule Energy, Angola’s largest independent oil and gas producer that is a 50:50 joint venture between British oil and gas company BP and Italian energy company Eni.
According to Yinson Production, the contract has a firm operation period of 15 years, with additional optional periods of up to five years and a total contract value of up to approximately US$5.7 billion.
Once completed, the Agogo FPSO will have a production capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.
At Thursday's noon market break, Yinson's shares were trading down three sen, or 1.22%, at RM2.42, for a market capitalisation of RM7.71 billion.