SOFIA, April 25 (Reuters) - Bulgarian state energy holding company BEH said it has signed a bridge loan agreement with three international banks for up to 650 million euros to be refinanced by a global bond issue within a year.
J.P. Morgan Securities, Bank of China and Banca IMI, the investment arm of Intesa Saopaolo, will provide the bridge loan in the coming days, BEH said.
BEH needs the proceeds to back a deal with U.S. firms AES and ContourGlobal, under which the two thermal power producers will lower the price at which they sell their output to public power provider NEK, a unit of BEH.
A source, familiar with the arrangement, said J.P. Morgan and Banca IMI would be lead managers of the pending bond, while Bank of China will participate only in the bridge loan.
BEH has sought to raise the debt since May 2015 but the process hit a snag after lenders demanded state guarantees.
Bulgaria's finance ministry has declined to extend such guarantees before the huge deficits in the energy system are properly addressed.
In September, credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded BEH's long term rating to BB- with a negative outlook, predicting weak credit ratios due to a widened tariff deficit at NEK.
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; editing by Jason Neely)