Acwa Power to restructure debt, ownership of its Turkish plant

Utility giant Acwa Power is set to settle all the outstanding debt of its Turkish majority-owned subsidiary Acwa Guc under an agreement with creditors and minority shareholders of the Turkish unit, according to a disclosure to Tadawul. This is possibly an indication of an alignment between the interests of the creditors, and the activities and performance of Acwa Guc.

What’s Acwa Guc? The company was established in 2017 and operates a USD 1 bn 950 MW combined cycle turbine power plant in Turkey’s Kirikkale, which is “capable of meeting 3% of the total electricity demand in Turkey,” according to its website.

An equity + cash agreement: The settlement will see the creditors of Acaw Guc get equity in the power plant, in addition to SAR 496.5 mn in bank notes, bringing Acwa Guc to a debtfree position. The cash amount will be paid by a unit that is 100% owned by Acwa Power to the creditors over a three-year period.

What we don’t know: There’s no publicly available information about the total size of the outstanding debt, nor the equity size the creditors will receive under the agreement and whether it will entail a capital increase through issuing new shares or the sale of existing shares. It’s also unclear who the creditors are, and which of Acwa Power’s subsidiaries will make the cash settlement.