José Luis Manzano sells four power plants in the Province of Buenos Aires

In 2016, when a window opened for cheap debt for Argentina, Canadian firm Stoneway did to lend him $ 500 million for finance four power plants in the province of Buenos Aires. This is the first signature atn issue a project bond in the North American market to invest in the country.

The lenders? old acquaintances to also buy bonds from the country, such as funds Gramercy, BlackRock and Fidelity.

Later, the same thing happened to the company as in Argentina: at the beginning of 2020, unable to pay debt, and its capital passed into the hands of background of grammercy (with a debt of US $ 220 million) and businessman and former Argentine Interior Minister José Luis Manzano.

Then, to avoid bankruptcy, enter the call from lenders in Canada and the United States. The new owners continued to negotiate with other creditors to try to reach a repayment agreement.

Now, after negotiations and an intermediate contract, Stoneway and its thermal generators in San Pedro, Las Palmas, Luján and Matheu have passed into the hands of of the Argentine group MSUto serve in exchange, through a subsidiary, a series of dollar bonds, in a total of nearly US $ 528 million, to be paid between next September and 2032.

The four generators, with the capacity to produce total 737 megawatts of powerthere are contracts with Cammesa, the electricity market regulator.

MSU agreed to that is controlled by its SCC Power -who will manage the operation- will issue to the lenders a bond for $ 17,861,000, guaranteed, at 6%, mature in 2028; another of US $ 310 millionalso guaranteed, at 8% and maturity in 2028 and a third of $ 200 million at 4%, due in 2032. The first payment of interest under the bond is due on September 15, 2022.

Not only the payment method is complicated, but also the corporate set-up of operations. As indicated in a statement, SCC is not based in Argentina, but a regulated corporation by the laws of England. The firm, in turn, is controlled by the Stoneway Custody Statutory Trust, whose ultimate beneficiary is MSU Energy Holding Ltd.

MSUEnergy Holding, Based in the UKis the major shareholder of MSU Energy SA, which is ultimately the company operating in the country.

More than a year ago, MSU took over the operation of the Stoneway plants, handling technical and commercial matters.

MSU also owns of three generators combined cycle: two in the province of Buenos Aires (Barker and General Rojo) and one in Villa María, Córdoba. The three together have a capacity of 750 MW.

But MSU’s main focus is not energy – in which it has participated since 2012 – but agriculture. It was founded in 1997’s Manuel Santos Uribelarrea and based in Villa Cañás, Santa Fe. The businessman was one of those who pleaded guilty to illegal payments in the case known as “bribery notebooks.”

According to its own data, MSU sows approximately 165,000 hectares owned and leased in Argentina, with production of 850,000 tons per year of wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, barley and peanuts. They also operate in Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, where they plant about 55,000 hectares.

NE