Cheniere partners rearrange to finance project debt

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (Cheniere Partners) has announced that it has engaged 13 financial institutions to act as joint Lead Arrangers, Mandated Lead Arrangers (collectively the Arrangers) and other participants to assist in the structuring and arranging of senior secured credit facilities in an aggregate principal amount of up to approximately US$2.8 billion. Proceeds from these new credit facilities are intended to be used by Cheniere Partners to prepay the US$400 million senior secured term loan at Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline, L.P. (CCTP), redeem or repay the approximately US$1.7 billion senior secured notes due 2016 and the US$420 million senior secured notes due 2020 that were issued by Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. (SPLNG), pay associated transaction fees, expenses, and make-whole amounts, if applicable, and for general business purposes of Cheniere Partners and its subsidiaries. SPLNG and CCTP are both wholly owned subsidiaries of Cheniere Partners.

The 13 arrangers and other participants are The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., ABN AMRO Capital USA LLC, Société Générale, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, New York Branch, Intesa Sanpaolo, S.P.A. New York Branch, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., Credit Suisse, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"Cheniere Partners is pleased to have the continued support of its key relationship banks for this refinancing. Upon closing of this transaction and after subsequent repayment of our outstanding CCTP and SPLNG obligations, the earliest debt maturity at Cheniere Partners will be in 2020," said Neal Shear, Chairman of the Board and interim CEO of Cheniere Partners.

Through SPLNG, Cheniere Partners owns 100% of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal located on the Sabine-Neches Waterway less than four miles from the Gulf Coast. The Sabine Pass LNG terminal includes existing infrastructure of five LNG storage tanks with capacity of approximately 16.9 billion ft³ equivalent, two docks that can accommodate vessels with nominal capacity of up to 266 000 m³ and vaporisers with regasification capacity of approximately 4.0 million ft³. Cheniere Partners also owns a 94 mile pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with a number of large interstate pipelines, the Creole Trail Pipeline, which is currently owned by CCTP.

Cheniere Partners, through its subsidiary, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC (SPL), is developing and constructing natural gas liquefaction facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal adjacent to the existing regasification facilities. Cheniere Partners, through SPL, plans to construct over time up to six liquefaction trains, which are in various stages of development. Each liquefaction train is expected to have a nominal production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tpy of LNG. SPL has entered into six third-party LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) that in the aggregate equate to approximately 19.75 million tpy of LNG and commence with the date of first commercial delivery of trains one through five as specified in the respective SPAs.

Adapted from press release by Francesca Brindle

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/26012016/cheniere-partners-needs-help-restructuring-refinancing-lng-sabine-pass-project-2262/