PPL Corporation announced a new financing arrangement with 21 regional and local banks in eastern and central Pennsylvania to provide a $300 million revolving credit facility that will be used for general corporate purposes, including infrastructure investments by the company's operating subsidiaries.
"We are very pleased to announce this innovative financing, which we believe will contribute to community development, including job creation and training, affordable housing and support for small businesses," said Paul A. Farr, PPL's executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer. "By strengthening the loan portfolios of these excellent institutions, we are enhancing the ability of these banks to fund other local development projects."
Over the next five years, PPL's Pennsylvania companies plan to invest more than $4 billion in improvements to the electricity infrastructure, Farr said. The $300 million revolving credit facility will be used as a tool in the effective management of the company's liquidity needs over that five-year period.
The banks that are part of the credit facility operate more than 1,200 branches in central and eastern Pennsylvania, with $65 billion in deposits. PNC Capital Markets LLC and Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company served as the lead arrangers for the transaction. National Penn Bank will serve as documentation agent. PNC Bank N.A. will serve as the administrative agent. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company will serve as the syndication agent.
Other participating banks are: American Bank , Beneficial Mutual Bancorp, Bryn Mawr Trust Company, Citizens Bank of PA, First Keystone Community Bank, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, First Niagara Bank, First Savings Bank of Perkasie, Juniata Valley Bank, Lafayette Ambassador Bank, Mauch Chunk Trust Company, Merchants Bank of Bangor, Metro Bank, QNB Bank, Susquehanna Bank, TD Bank, N.A., Team Capital Bank and Wayne Bank.
"PPL funds its capital needs through diverse sources and we are very pleased to add these banks to that effort," said Farr. "PPL has a long history of supporting the communities we serve and today's announcement further adds to that legacy."
CFSD Group LLC served as adviser to PPL Corporation in this transaction.
With 2012 revenues of more than $12 billion, PPL Corporation is one of the largest companies in the U.S. utility sector. The PPL family of companies delivers electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in the United States and the United Kingdom, owns more than 18,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States and sells energy in key U.S. markets.