KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Toyo Ventures Holdings Bhd (KL:TOYOVEN), which is disputing the termination of its Vietnam power plant project with the Vietnamese government in hopes of a resolution, announced on Thursday that the Export-Import Bank of Malaysia (EXIM Bank) is going to terminate its mandate as the exclusive lead arranger for project.
The printing ink firm said EXIM Bank notified it of the impending termination via a letter to its wholly-owned unit Song Hau 2 Power Co Ltd (SH2P).
“SH2P has today (Thursday) received a letter from EXIM Bank notifying the termination of the mandate letter dated Nov 33, 2023. The termination will take effect on June 10, 2025,” Toyo Ventures said in a bourse filing on Thursday.
Song Hau 2 Power is the developer of the build-operate-transfer project for the 2.12GW Song Hau 2 thermal power plant.
The mandate letter provided EXIM Bank with the exclusivity to arrange syndicated facilities of up to US$2.42 billion (RM10.6 billion) to finance the project.
However, the Vietnamese government terminated the project in July last year. Its Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) said the termination was a result of Toyo Venture’s failure to complete the project’s financial close within the 90-day notice period.
Toyo Ventures has been in talks with the MOIT to resolve the dispute since January this year. On April 10, Toyo Ventures said the Vietnamese government had agreed to extend the initial 45-day discussion period for "good faith discussions".
Just a month prior to the project’s termination, Toyo Ventures announced that SH2P had secured a US$980 million (RM4.41 billion) equipment financing facility from i-Power Solutions Pte Ltd. The facility was to finance up to 70% of the invoice amount for the procurement of equipment required for the project's engineering, procurement, commissioning and construction (EPCC) works.
But following the project’s termination, Toyo Ventures said the financing facility was no longer applicable.
Shares in Toyo Ventures ended unchanged at 29 sen on Thursday, valuing the company at RM48.11 million. The stock has dropped over RM1 since the project's termination in July last year.