REG-Global Ports Holding PLC Completes project financing and begins cruise operations at San Juan Cruise Port, Puerto Rico

Global Ports HoldingAnnouncement

15/02/2024 07:00

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   Global Ports Holding PLC (GPH)
   Completes project financing and begins cruise operations at San Juan
   Cruise Port, Puerto Rico

   15-Feb-2024 / 07:00 GMT/BST

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   Global Ports Holding Plc

   Completes project  financing  and begins  cruise  operations at  San  Juan
   Cruise Port, Puerto Rico

   Global  Ports  Holding  Plc  ("GPH"  or  "Group"),  the  world's   largest
   independent  cruise  port  operator,  is  pleased  to  announce  that  its
   wholly-owned subsidiary San Juan Cruise Port LLC (“SJCP”) has successfully
   reached  financial  closing  of  the  PPP  Agreement  and   simultaneously
   concluded the debt financing  for the initial phase  of its investment  in
   San Juan Cruise Port and has now taken over cruise operations at San  Juan
   Cruise Port for GPH.

   The successful  long-term  project  financing  was  achieved  through  the
   issuance, by San Juan Cruise Port, of two bonds totalling USD 187 million.
   USD 110 million has been  raised through the issuance  of a Series A  bond
   due 2045  and underwritten  by Barclays  Capital Inc,  which will  now  be
   placed in the US municipal bond market at an average coupon rate of  6.6%.
   USD 77 million was raised through the issuance of a Series B bond due 2039
   to US institutional investors at a fixed coupon of 7.21%.

   The bonds have received an investment  grade credit of BBB- from S&P.  The
   Series A  bond will  fully  amortize 21  years,  with a  weighted  average
   duration of  c19 years.  The Series  B bond  will fully  amortize over  15
   years, with a weighted average duration of c12 years.

   Port investment

   San Juan Cruise  Port is currently  a popular transit  port and  homeport.
   However, the cruise  port infrastructure needs  significant investment  to
   ensure continued operations over GPH’s 30-year concession term and to meet
   the needs of the modern and fast-growing cruise industry.

   Under the terms of the concession agreement, SJCP will pay the Puerto Rico
   Ports Authority an upfront  concession fee of USD  77 million. During  the
   initial investment phase, SJCP will invest approximately USD 100  million,
   primarily focused on critical  infrastructure at Pier  4 and Pan  American
   Piers together with upgrades to the terminal buildings and the walkway  in
   front of the  Old San  Juan piers.  In addition,  the investment  includes
   transaction expenses, reserve accounts  customary for a  project-financing
   of this nature and other incidental uses of proceeds. 

   As well as investing in the port's infrastructure, as part of this initial
   investment, SJCP will invest in modernising the cruise port experience for
   cruise passengers,  cruise lines  and  local vendors  and will  use  GPH’s
   global expertise  and operating  model to  improve the  management of  the
   cruise port operations. GPH  will also invest  in systems, equipment,  and
   technology to enhance the cruise port's operational performance and ensure
   environmental protection, safety, and security.

   The management approach  of GPH will  ensure that the  port is  integrated
   into Old San Juan  and Puerto Rico's thriving  tourism sector as a  whole,
   creating  significant  opportunities  for  local  businesses  to   benefit
   directly from the improved  facilities and the  expected growth in  cruise
   passenger volumes.

   The second investment  phase will commence  subject to certain  pre-agreed
   criteria, including cruise  passenger volumes  recovering to  pre-pandemic
   levels. In this phase, SJCP will invest an estimated USD 250m in expanding
   the capacity of  the San  Juan Cruise Port  by building  a completely  new
   cruise pier and state-of-the-art homeport terminal capable of handling the
   world's largest cruise ships  at Piers 11 and  12. The financing for  this
   second phase is  expected to come  from the US  municipal bond market  and
   North American based financial institutions.

   Network expansion

   The addition of San Juan Cruise Port is a significant development in GPH's
   strategic ambitions in the Caribbean. San Juan Cruise Port, which welcomed
   1.8m unique passengers  in 2019  (including c.  0.4m homeport  passengers,
   representing 2.2m passenger movements),  is the third-largest cruise  port
   in GPH's global network.

   San Juan Cruise Port  is a strategically important  port in the  Caribbean
   cruise market,  perfectly  positioned  to  be  included  in  both  Eastern
   Caribbean and Southern Caribbean itineraries.  In addition to its  airport
   and hotel infrastructure,  Puerto Rico  is a  US territory,  making it  an
   attractive  homeport  destination  for  Eastern  and  Southern   Caribbean
   itineraries.

   The addition of San Juan  Cruise Port takes the  total number of ports  in
   GPH’s network to 29, with annual passenger volumes of close to 20  million
   expected for the 12 months to 31 March 2025, which is expected to rise  to
   30 ports and over  20 million passengers when  St Lucia joins the  network
   before the end of the current financial year.

   Global Ports Holding, Americas Regional Director, Mike Maura, said:

   "We are delighted to welcome San Juan Cruise Port into the world's largest
   cruise port network. As well as being a fantastic destination, San Juan is
   a strategically  important port  that is  perfectly positioned  to play  a
   pivotal role in Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries for decades  to
   come.

   Our investment into this port will see hundreds of millions of US  dollars
   invested into San Juan Cruise  Port, transforming the port  infrastructure
   and significantly  improving the  cruise  port experience  for  passengers
   while creating significant opportunities  for local businesses to  benefit
   from the expected growth in cruise passenger volumes.

   I would like to thank  the Government of Puerto  Rico and the Puerto  Rico
   Port Authority for their support  throughout the process. We look  forward
   to delivering a world-class cruise port that can benefit Puerto Ricans for
   many years to come.”

    

   CONTACT                                   
   For investor,  analyst  and  financial   For media enquiries:
   media enquiries:
   Global   Ports    Holding,    Investor   Global Ports Holding
   Relations
   Martin Brown                             Ceylan Erzi
   Telephone: +44 (0) 7947 163 687          Telephone: +90 212 244 44 40
   Email:                                   Email:
    1 martinb@globalportsholding.com         2 ceylane@globalportsholding.com

    

    

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   Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EQS Group.
   The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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   ISIN:          GB00BD2ZT390
   Category Code: AGR
   TIDM:          GPH
   LEI Code:      213800BMNG6351VR5X06
   Sequence No.:  303815
   EQS News ID:   1837605


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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References

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