Yinson completes US$800 million refinancing deal for FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor

Yinson has completed a US$800 million refinancing exercise for FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK), with the loan successfully drawn down on 14 April.

The project kicked off five months ago in November 2019 when 13 local and international banks, seven of which are new to Yinson, signed the refinancing agreement. The tenure of the loan is 12 years.

FPSO JAK is a joint venture project, with a 26% stake being held by a Japanese consortium comprising Sumitomo Corporation, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), JGC Holdings Corporation and Development Bank of Japan.

FPSO JAK is currently operating in OCTP Block, offshore Ghana and is chartered to Eni Ghana Exploration & Production, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eni, the Italian multinational energy company which has a long-term credit rating of A-by Fitch.

Yinson Group Chief Strategy Officer Daniel Bong said that the deal was able to be completed only because of the close relationships which had been forged between all participating banks, joint venture partners and the client, particularly given the present turbulent environment.

‘It was definitely not the most straightforward process, as movement control is being imposed in many countries due to the Covid-19 situation. However, we collectively managed to overcome this hurdle despite all odds, achieving the objectives of all parties. I would like to personally thank our client, our joint venture partners and the banking group for their unwavering support shown for this transaction, and I look forward to continued collaboration in future projects,’ he said.

Source: Energy-pedia