Renewable energy company Meshek Energy (TASE: MSKE) has secured NIS 220 million in the institutional stage of an offering of dedicated bonds for financing solar energy projects. The money raised will replace existing senior debt.
Meshek Energy develops, constructs and operates a range of renewable energy plants, with an emphasis on solar energy fields. The controlling interest in the company is held by the Kibbutz Economies Group (Mishkei Hakibbutzim), which brings together 270 kibbutzim from all over Israel.
Demand in the bond offering, which was accompanied by IBI Underwriting, Epsilon Underwriting, Giza, and law firm Herzog Fox & Neeman, was over NIS 420 million, and it closed at an interest rate of 1.65%, index linked. The offering will enable Meshek Energy to reduce its financing costs substantially.
The proceeds of the offering are earmarked for financing the construction of four projects, at Kibbutz Lotan, Kfar Aza, Beit Kama, and Yakhini, to repay the costs of a project at Kfar Blum, which is due to be connected to the electricity grid in the coming weeks, and to finance the Meitarim deal. The public stage of the offering is due to take place later this week, after approval is obtained from the Israel Securities Authority.
Meshek Energy CEO Hen Melamed said, "In this offering, we demonstrated that it is possible to think outside the box, and we succeeded in opening up a new financing track that will facilitate significantly improved efficiency in constructing solar energy projects. The high demand at the institutional stage indicates the success of the model, which will bring great value to the company and its shareholders, and the confidence of the capital market in the company and its activity."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 27, 2020
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