La filial de la compañía de energía de Abu Dhabi refuerza su posición en el mercado marroquí
Taqa, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, has announced one of the largest bond placements in Morocco in 2020 and is strengthening its position in the Moroccan energy market, where it operates as a subsidiary. The company generates more than 40% of Morocco's electricity demand. The Moroccan subsidiary has made one of the largest bond placements in Morocco in 2020, reaching a value of 293 million dollars, according to the Emirates agency, WAM.
The bond placement has been subscribed to by investors and will allow the company the opportunity to optimise its capital structure and create value for shareholders. The transaction has been made possible by a debt reduction of more than 20% and an extension of the debt maturity date by 11 years, until March 2038. "This bond placement in Morocco underlines the fundamental role that our generation business plays in our international growth strategy. Taqa is a reliable partner in Morocco and we have fulfilled our commitment. Taqa will continue to drive smart, targeted growth," said Iasim Husain Thabet, Group Managing Director and Director of Taqa Group, in a statement collected by WAM.
The bond issue reflects Taqa Morocco's commitment to continue providing electricity to the national company for the next 17 years. TAQA Morocco's 2056 MW Jorf Lasfar power plant generates electricity to meet more than 40 percent of Morocco's demand, and serves approximately 18 million people a year. It is one of the largest power plants of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The TAQA Group bond placement in Morocco follows the completion of TAQA's transaction with Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, ADPower, on 1 July 2020, which created one of the largest publicly listed companies in the Emirates by market capitalisation. As part of the transaction, the majority of ADPower's power and water generation, transmission and distribution assets, including Al Ain Distribution Company, Abu Dhabi Distribution Company and Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company, were transferred to TAQA in exchange for 106,367,950,000 new shares.
