New lenders to the Bluewaters Power Station are understood to have tapped advisory firm Moelis as well as KordaMentha to assist with a recapitalisation of the troubled coal-fired asset.
DataRoom reported on Monday that KordaMentha was expected to be involved, but it is no surprise that Moelis is now in the frame, given its expertise in handling complex restructuring assignments.
KordaMentha has worked on the asset in the past.
It comes after a beauty parade was held to select an adviser to offer assistance to the new financiers of the power station.
It is understood that the pair will aid the lenders when it comes to negotiations with the asset’s owners, Sumitomo and Kansai Electric.
Until now, McGrathNicol has been helping out the lending syndicate, but most of the banks it had been working with have since sold out.
In July, almost all of the existing lenders to the coal-powered power station offloaded their debt for between 70c and 75c in the dollar ahead of a refinancing deadline in August. The only existing lender is understood to be Starwood Capital.
Banks bailed because they were not prepared to recommit to loans to coal-related assets due to environmental concerns.
The asset’s owner, Sumitomo, was offering to buy the debt for 66c in the dollar, but lenders found a better deal elsewhere.
The buyers of debt from existing lenders Westpac, NAB, ANZ, Societe Generale and Bayern have included Elliott, Davidson Kempner, Oaktree Capital Partners, Soliton Capital Partners, which owns between 5 and 10 per cent, and traders such as SC Lowy, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank.
The face value of the debt pile was about $369m.
The Bluewaters Power Station at Collie, 200km south of Perth, was built by Griffin Energy in 2009 and has a total electricity generation capacity of about 430 megawatts.
The power station’s owners, Sumitomo and Kansai Electric, have been in search of funds for the asset they purchased for $1.2bn in 2011 from Ric Stowe’s Griffin Group.
It provides the fuel for the power station, which supplies about 16 per cent of Western Australia’s electricity.
Most believe the lenders will bring together the power station and the Griffin Coal mine.
Houlihan Lokey and law firm Clayton Utz is working for Sumitomo.
G+T has been working for the lenders and Japanese bank MUFG advised the Bluewaters company.
Activist investor Elliott is working with law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
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