On April 6, 2017, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)
announced it had reached agreement in principle on terms to modify its
Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) and that the RSA has been extended
to April 13, 2017 to allow time for documentation of the modifications.
Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and Assured Guaranty Corp.,
subsidiaries of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)(together with its
subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty), are parties to the RSA. Commenting on
the modified agreement, Dominic Frederico, President and CEO of Assured
Guaranty said:
“We are pleased that PREPA, the Puerto Rico government, Assured Guaranty
and other creditors have agreed to terms on modifications to the PREPA
RSA that allow for full implementation and are fair to the various
parties. We are encouraged that the Puerto Rico government has agreed
that the RSA construct for PREPA provides the best path for a consensual
resolution of this authority’s financial restructuring. Assured Guaranty
has always favored a constructive approach to resolve the problems of
distressed issuers.
“We believe the Oversight Board should promptly facilitate Title VI
execution under PROMESA of the modified RSA, which would further affirm
that consensual agreements like this one are the most efficient – and
likely the only – way to put the Puerto Rico economy back on the road to
recovery.”
Similar to the previous version of the RSA, Assured Guaranty will:
-
Provide surety to support the new securitization bonds
-
Extend maturity on relending bonds purchased in 2016
-
Commit to purchase $18 million of relending bonds in July 2017, and
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Provide $120 million of principal payment deferrals in 2018 through
2023.
For additional information on the terms of the RSA, see the Puerto Rico
Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority’s April 6, 2017 EMMA
filing at https://emma.msrb.org/ER1046043-ER819555-ER1220619.pdf.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect
Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future events and are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from
those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those resulting from adverse
developments in Puerto Rico or at any of its instrumentalities, an
inability or failure of creditors and the Commonwealth to implement a
consensual restructuring, litigation that has already been initiated or
may be initiated in the future, governmental or legislative action or
inaction by Puerto Rico or the United States (including any actions
taken by the federal oversight board established by the Puerto Rico
Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act), other risks and
uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management’s
response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in Assured
Guaranty’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which are made as of April 6, 2017. Assured Guaranty
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly traded Bermuda-based holding
company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products
to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and
structured finance markets. More information on Assured Guaranty Ltd.
and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.