Mega First secures US$150m funding

KUALA LUMPUR: Mega First Corp Bhd (MFC), principally involved in power generation, quarry and property development, has secured US$150 million (RM634.87 million) in funding to part finance the construction of its Don Sahong hydropower project in Laos.

The funding is made up of US$85 million term loan facilities and US$65 million Islamic financing, said MFC in filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

“Based on today’s cost of funds, the weighted average interest is 4.51 per cent,” it said.

The conventional loan is up to six years, with its repayment starting from January 2020 or a mutually agreed later date.

As for the Islamic financing facility under the syariah principle of tawarruq (commodity murabahah), MFC said the tenure is up to six years, with repayment of the financier ’s sale price starting three months after the first date of disbursement or utilisation. According to MFC’s website, the Don Sahong hydropower project is a run-of-river hydroelectric power scheme located in the Khong District of Champasak Province in Southern Laos.

The scheme has been designed with a generation capacity of 260MW.

The proposed dam is at the southern end of the Sahong channel, one of seven major channels of the Mekong River in the Siphandone (Four Thousand Islands) area that flow over the geological feature called the “Great Fault Line”.

The project would utilise 15 per cent of the total Mekong flow.

The dam and associated embankments will create a small head-pond (covering 125ha of land) between the islands of Don Sahong and Don Sadam.

This head-pond will allow the natural fall of about 20 metres across the “Great Fault Line” to be utilised for power generation.

The Don Sahong hydropower project will generate business opportunities and employment for the local communities.

While producing 260MW of renewable energy for the expanding Lao national grid, the Don Sahong project would make a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the country.

At the close of trading yesterday, MFC traded two sen higher at RM3.58, bringing its value to RM1.39 billion.