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Citibank, BNP Paribas and the Export Development Corp., Canada's national credit export agency, will likely wait until March before launching general syndication of InterGen's $533 million project loan for the construction of La Rosita I and II (1,075 MW). The lead arrangers have pushed back the launch date because they fear it could conflict with the retail end of InterGen's $426 million non-recourse loan for the construction of Magnolia, says a New York project financier on the deal. The Magnolia loan is being syndicated this month (PFR, 1/28).

Uruguay's state-run power concern, National Electric Power Generation and Transmission Administration, is seeking bids from independent power producers to build, own and operate an approximately $250-$300 million 400 MW natural-gas fired plant in the Latin American country, says a New York banker familiar with the matter.

The Inter-American Development Bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria andBanco Nacional de Desenvolvimento will close $280 million in financing this month for a 502 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Brazil, dubbed Termopernambuco, says Roberto Bellutini, head of project finance at the IDB in Washington.

Spanish utility Union Fenosa has selected Deutsche Bank and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi to arrange approximately $600 million in financing for the construction of two combined-cycle gas turbine plants, dubbed Tuxpan III and IV, with 938 MW in combined output in the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Bankers at Deutsche and Bank of Tokyo did not return calls by press time.

Guy Spaull, managing director of project finance atJ.P. Morgan in London, has moved to Scotia Capital to spearhead its project finance business. A senior loan market official at J.P. Morgan says Spaull's departure reflects the banks shift away from European power project finance. Large European utilities are increasingly using their balance sheets to fund acquisitions or expansion so it makes less sense to maintain a large dedicated project finance team, he says. However, the banker stresses that Morgan will continue to commit personnel to the market.

U.K. utility Innogy has put its U.S. wind farm business up for sale and hired J.P. Morgan to find a buyer. An official familiar with the sale says the portfolio, which consists of two 20 MW farms in California and a further 600 MW of projects in construction or under development in California, Texas and Pennsylvania, could fetch Innogy some $300 million.

Xcel Energy, one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., is courting FirstEnergy, TXU and Entergy as potential merger partners and at the same time is looking to repurchase the remaining 20% stake of its unregulated IPP affiliate, NRG Energy, which it partially spun off in May 2000. Lehman Brothers is advising the Minneapolis-based utility on the concurrent strategies. Paul Adelmann, a spokesman at Xcel Energy, confirmed the company is looking at these options, but declined to elaborate.

Calpine is looking to arrange a $2 billion secured loan facility, as a $1 billion unsecured loan it announced in January appears to be floundering, according to bankers. One banker close to the discussions says both secured and unsecured facilities are still live options, either individually or combined, but another, who is also involved, sees the latter option as unlikely. "The senior unsecured facility was supposed to close in January. It didn't." Getting the loan in place is seen as crucial for the San Jose, Calif., IPP because of the thin projected cash surplus it is forecasting for this year (PFR, 2/11).

Lead arrangers Citibank, BNP Paribas and the Export Development Corp., Canada's national credit export agency, expect to close syndication next month on InterGen's $533 million project loan for the construction of La Rosita I and II (1,075 MW), says a project financier familiar with the matter. Approximately 10-12 banks have already signed up with commitments in the $40-$50 million range, he says. He declined to name the banks or comment on the fees.

Lead arrangers of the Al Shuweihat S1 $1.3 billion project loan have restructured the deal to include a $250 million Islamic tranche to broaden the appeal of the deal among Middle Eastern banks during syndication, says an official involved in the deal. The banker says the move was necessary because many banks in the region are unable to provide loans that pay interest under the terms of Islam's Sharia law.