BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 1
By Maryana Akhmedova – Trend:
S&P Global Ratings Agency has revised its outlook for Georgia Global Utilities (GGU), the water utility and renewable energy holding company, from “positive” to “stable”, Trend reports, citing the Agency.
According to the S&P, the reason for the reassess is the fact that Georgia Capital (GCAP), a Georgian UK-based company that is focused on providing a platform for buying, building, and developing businesses in Georgia, plans to sell 65 percent of the shares of the GGU to the Spanish water supply organization FCC Aqualia.
As part of a complex transaction involving the change of the controlling shareholder, the holders of the issue of GGU bonds in the amount of $250 million will be offered to buy securities back, S&P said.
GGU plans to withdraw the bonds at the end of the irrevocable period in July 2022 in order to be able to complete the planned allocation of its assets related to the renewable energy segment, the Agency added.
Despite the fact that Aqualia and GCAP have publicly announced their plans to provide GGU with liquidity to repay the bonds, the exact terms of the transaction have not yet been determined, S&P noted.
“We, therefore, revised our outlook on GGU to stable from positive, and affirmed our ‘B’ long-term issuer rating and issue rating on the company,” S&P said in a statement.
“The stable outlook reflects our view that the bond will be successfully refinanced with shareholder support and that in the next 6-12 months until the transaction is fully completed, uncertainty about GGU’s exact liquidity arrangements and eventual capital structure will be largely balanced by potential upside from group support,” the agency concluded.
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