Ellevio secures financing of 9 billion

On January 22 Ellevio AB (publ) signed a financing agreement with 12 Swedish and international banks. The agreement, which is a so-called Revolving Credit Facility and Liquidity Facility of 9 billion SEK, secures financing for Ellevio to a pre-agreed interest margin during a period of 5 to 7 years.

The purpose of the agreement is to secure financing of the company’s investment plans, during the next regulatory period (2020-2023). Ellevio has announced that the company plans to lower its base investments with 40 per cent to 4.3 billion during this period. This in order to adjust to the new regulatory framework with decreased allowed revenue. It is Ellevio’s view that the current framework does not support the long-term target to secure the continued high reliability of the network and to enable the transition to a climate-smart society.

- Electricity distribution is a very capital-intensive operation with long periods to recoup the investments. For most of our investments, the payback period is 40 years or longer. Although we are now planning for a lower investment volume, there are still large sums that must be invested annually in the electricity grid in order to maintain quality and reliability. These amounts must largely be financed by debts and the company must also ensure that the loans taken for previous years' investments can be financed as these loans mature, says Jan Seveborg, Head of Treasury at Ellevio.