Assured Guaranty Wraps Bonds for North Lanarkshire Schools PFI Project
October 24 2017 - 1:00AM
Business Wire
Assured Guaranty (Europe) plc (AGE)* announced that it has
guaranteed principal and interest payments that are payable by
Transform Schools (North Lanarkshire) Funding Plc on £88 million of
index-linked bonds and a £70 million European Investment Bank
Loan.
As the guarantor, AGE guarantees timely payment of scheduled
principal and interest to debtholders, throughout the life of the
debt. AGE replaced the prior guarantor, Syncora Guarantee Inc.
The project was originally financed in 2004 and construction of
the 24 schools was successfully completed in 2008. It was
constructed by Balfour Beatty and is operated and maintained by
Engie. The concession runs to 2037. The sponsors are Equitix and
Innisfree.
The debt is currently rated BBB based on the underlying project
rating; however, it is expected that the debt rating will be
upgraded to AA as a result of the AGE guarantee, which enhances the
credit quality of the debt.
Dominic Nathan, Managing Director, AGE, commented:
"This is a great transaction for all parties involved, as
Assured Guaranty (Europe) becomes the guarantor and controlling
creditor and has UK-based dedicated resources to monitor this
transaction’s performance. In addition, we expect debtholders to
benefit from an upgrade of the transaction from its current BBB
underlying rating to an Assured Guaranty (Europe) enhanced rating
of AA.”
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This announcement is for information purposes only.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
*Assured Guaranty (Europe) plc (AGE) (formerly Assured Guaranty
(Europe) Ltd.) (company number 2510099) is authorised by the
Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. AGE
provides its financial guarantee together with a co-guarantee from
its affiliate Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM).
Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL and,
together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty) is the leading
provider of financial guarantees for principal and interest
payments due on municipal, public infrastructure and structured
financings. Its subsidiary AGM guarantees international
infrastructure and U.S. municipal bonds - and was previously named
Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) before becoming an Assured
Guaranty company in July 2009. AGE, a subsidiary of AGM, is Assured
Guaranty’s European operating platform. AGL is a publicly traded
(NYSE: AGO), Bermuda-based holding company. More information on AGL
and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.
Nothing contained herein shall constitute an invitation or
recommendation to invest or otherwise deal in, or an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any
security.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements:
Any forward-looking statements made in this press release
reflect Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future
events and are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements
involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
failure of the rating agencies to upgrade the debt rating of the
transaction to reflect the financial guarantee from Assured
Guaranty (Europe) on a timely basis or at all, and adverse actions
that the rating agencies may take with respect to Assured
Guaranty’s financial strength ratings. The risks and uncertainties
also include those resulting from Assured Guaranty’s inability to
execute its strategies; the demand for Assured Guaranty’s financial
guarantees; adverse developments in Assured Guaranty’s guaranteed
portfolio; and other risks and uncertainties that have not been
identified at this time, management’s response to these factors,
and other risk factors identified in AGL’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are
made as of October 24, 2017. Assured Guaranty undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171023006426/en/
Assured Guaranty Ltd.Investor Relations:Robert Tucker, +1
212-339-0861Senior Managing Director, Investor Relations and
Corporate Communicationsrtucker@agltd.comorMedia:Ashweeta Durani,
+1 212-408-6042Vice President, Corporate
Communicationsadurani@agltd.com
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