On June 24, 2024, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC (the 「Company」), a wholly owned subsidiary of CenterPoint
Energy, Inc
. (「CenterPoint Energy」), entered into a delayed draw term loan agreement (the 「Term Loan Agreement」) among Mizuho Bank, Ltd., as administrative agent, and the banks party thereto, pursuant to which the banks have committed to provide term loans in an aggregate principal amount of up to $300 million. The Term Loan Agreement also permits the Company to request additional commitments and/or additional loans, such additional commitments and/or loans not to exceed $200 million and subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions precedent. The Company intends to use the proceeds for working capital to support liquidity needs from the May 2024 Storm Events (as defined below) and general limited liability company purposes. The maturity date for the borrowings under the Term Loan Agreement is December 24, 2025.
Borrowings under the Term Loan Agreement bear interest, at the Company’s option, at a rate equal to either (i) Term SOFR (as defined in the Term Loan Agreement), which includes an adjustment of 0.10% per annum plus a margin of 1.0% or (ii) the Alternate Base Rate (as defined in the Term Loan Agreement). The Term Loan Agreement contains certain covenants, including a covenant that requires the Company not to exceed a ratio of consolidated debt (excluding, among other things, transition and system restoration bonds) to consolidated capitalization (excluding, among other things,
非現金投資和籌資活動:
reductions to net income) of 67.5%. The Term Loan Agreement provides a temporary increase of the permitted ratio under this covenant to 70% if the Company or its subsidiaries experiences certain damages from a natural disaster in its service territory and, among other conditions, the Company certifies to the administrative agent that the system restoration costs incurred by the Company and its subsidiaries in connection with that natural disaster are reasonably likely to exceed $100 million in a consecutive twelve-month period, all or part of which the Company or one of its subsidiaries intend to seek to recover through securitization financing. Such temporary increase in the financial ratio covenant would be in effect from the date the Company delivers its certification until the earliest to occur of (i) the completion of the securitization financing, (ii) the first anniversary of the date of such certification or (iii) the revocation by the Company of such certification.
Borrowings under the Term Loan Agreement may be voluntarily prepaid without penalty or premium, other than customary breakage costs related to prepayments of loans that bear interest based on Term SOFR. The Term Loan Agreement also provides a mechanism to replace Term SOFR or other then-applicable interest rate benchmarks if they are no longer available.
Borrowings under the Term Loan Agreement are subject to acceleration upon the occurrence of events of default that the Company considers customary. The Term Loan Agreement also provides for the payment of customary fees, including administrative agent fees, ticking fees and other fees.
The Term Loan Agreement described above is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form
8-K
and is incorporated by reference herein. The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Term Loan Agreement.
Mizuho Bank, Ltd., TD Bank, N.A. and U.S. Bank National Association have each committed to providing funding under the Term Loan Agreement and each of them and/or their respective affiliates have performed depository and other banking, investment banking, trust, investment management and advisory services for the Company and its affiliates from time to time for which they have received customary fees and expenses and may, from time to time, engage in transactions with and perform services for the Company and its affiliates in the ordinary course of its business. Mizuho Bank, Ltd., TD Bank, N.A. and U.S. Bank National Association also serves as lenders and/or agents under other credit agreements of the Company and its affiliates.
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Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under Off-Balance Sheet 註冊人的離線表安排的負債項。 |
本次現行報告項目1.01中包含的信息
Form 8-K is
併入本項目2.03中。