Reliance locks USD 736m in debt to back REC Solar buy - report

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (BOM:500325) will use a USD-736-million (EUR 652m) equivalent green loan to finance the recent acquisition of Norwegian solar module manufacturer REC Solar Holdings AS, the Mint reports.

REC Solar, also known as REC Group, officially became part of the Indian group on December 1. Reliance Industries bought the Oslo-based company from China National Bluestar Group Co Ltd in a deal worth USD 771 million.

The debt funding was extended by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Credit Agricole, DBS Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). According to the report, REC Solar is the borrower, while Reliance New Energy Solar is the guarantor.

The loan comprises a USD-250-million six-year term loan with a margin of around 120bp–125bp over Libor, a USD-150-million working capital facility and a five-year bank guarantee facility of USD 460 million.

REC, which also has an operational headquarters in Singapore, produces solar-grade polysilicon at two sites in Norway and has a photovoltaic (PV) cell and module factory in Singapore. Its acquisition by Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance aimed to expand the Indian firm’s operations into the green energy market and back its goal of enabling 100 GW clean and green energy before the end of the decade.

Reliance previously said it plans to use REC’s heterojunction (HJT) technology at a fully integrated solar factory in Jamnagar, Gujarat, to initially produce 4 GW and eventually reach 10 GW per year.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.886)

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