Contact Information: Investor Contacts: Cleco Corporation: Ryan Gunter (318) 484-7724 Rodney J. Hamilton (318) 484-7593 Analyst Inquiries: Dresner Companies Kristine Walczak (312) 726-3600 Media Contact: Cleco Corporation Robbyn Cooper (318) 484-7136
Cleco Subsidiary Issues $180 Million of Securitized Bonds
Securitization Structure Will Lower Customers' Storm Costs
| Source: Cleco Corp.
PINEVILLE, LA--(Marketwire - March 6, 2008) - Cleco Power LLC today announced that its
special purpose subsidiary, Cleco Katrina/Rita Hurricane Recovery Funding
LLC, has closed the issuance of $180.6 million of its securitized storm
recovery bonds. Cleco Power LLC is the vertically integrated electric
utility subsidiary of Cleco Corp. (NYSE : CNL ).
The issuer will use the net proceeds from the issuance of the bonds to pay
Cleco Power the purchase price of Cleco Power's rights under the financing
order described below. Cleco Power will use approximately $50 million of
such funds to establish a storm reserve fund for future storm damage, with
the remaining portion of the proceeds (approximately $125 million), which
is reimbursement for unrecovered storm costs from hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, being used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Debt service for the bonds will be paid by a special monthly storm recovery
surcharge paid by all of Cleco Power's retail customers. The bonds were
issued in two tranches and have an effective weighted average life of seven
years and a weighted average interest rate of 4.86 percent. A $113
million,
five-year weighted average life tranche was issued with an interest rate of
4.41 percent, and a $67.6 million, 10.5-year weighted average life tranche
was issued with an interest rate of 5.61 percent.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) issued a financing order in
September 2007 authorizing Cleco Power to securitize its unrecovered storm
restoration costs. Prior to this, the LPSC authorized Cleco Power to
recover restoration costs through an interim storm recovery plan. The
securitization structure is expected to decrease the current interim storm
surcharge by $2.26 per average monthly residential bill.
"This has been a joint endeavor between Cleco and the LPSC," said Cleco
President and CEO, Michael Madison. "The LPSC passed the orders needed for
the rating agencies to favorably rate the bonds. With their help, we issued
AAA-rated bonds, the highest rating possible. This high rating will save
our customers money."
Louisiana utilities have never before issued securitized bonds to finance
storm restoration costs. Cleco Power started the process in 2006, which
required state legislative action and regulatory approval.
"We've been working on this process for over two years," said Madison. "We
made a commitment to implement the best storm-recovery plan for our
customers, and we kept our promise. Our securitization team's persistence
resulted in monthly customer savings from this special financing. They
navigated through many unknowns and developed a storm-recovery financing
structure good for our customers and our company."
Pathfinder Capital Advisors LLC acted as financial advisor to the LPSC, and
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as structuring agent and sole book
runner on the transaction.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation
of an offer to buy, any security and shall not constitute an offer,
solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offering would be
unlawful.
Cleco Corp. is a regional energy services company headquartered in
Pineville, La. It operates a regulated electric utility company that serves
273,000 customers across Louisiana. Cleco also operates a wholesale energy
business that has approximately 1,350 megawatts of generating capacity. For
more information about Cleco, visit www.cleco.com.