Ameren Illinois to price 30-year green first mortgage bonds

By William Gullotti

Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 8 – Ameren Illinois Co. intends to sell green first mortgage bonds due 2052, according to a 424B3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bonds will feature a make-whole call until six months prior to maturity and then are callable at par.

BofA Securities, Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, TD Securities (USA) LLC and PNC Capital Markets LLC are the joint bookrunning managers for the offering.

KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., Cabrera Capital Markets LLC, Drexel Hamilton, LLC, MFR Securities, Inc. and Mischler Financial Group, Inc. are serving as co-managers.

Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., NA is the trustee.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and in-house counsel will advise the issuer. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is counsel to the underwriters.

Proceeds will be used to repay a portion of the company’s short-term debt. As of Nov. 7, the company’s short-term debt consisted of commercial paper, totaling $379 million with maturities of up to 15 days and a weighted-average interest rate of 4.17%, and overnight borrowings under the Ameren utility money pool of approximately $2 million with a weighted-average interest rate of 4.34%.

The company said it intends to allocate, within three years of the issuance of the bonds, an amount equal to the net proceeds to costs incurred for eligible projects related to renewable energy, climate change adaptation, energy efficiency and green innovation.

Ameren Illinois is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based electric and natural gas company Ameren Corp.

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