Manulife Arranges $117 Million in Financing for 48.6MW Wind Farm in Southwestern Ontario

TORONTO, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Manulife Financial today announced the completion of a $117 million financing with International Power Canada ("IPC") for the construction and long term operation of a 48.6 megawatt ("MW") wind farm in south-western Ontario.  

Manulife formed and led a syndicate of Canadian life insurance companies to provide a total $117 million in construction and term loans for a term of approximately 21-years term to support the Pointe-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project.  Manulife is the arranger and agent with an investment of $60 million.

The 48.6 MW Pointe-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project consists of a twenty-seven 1.8 MW wind turbines located in the Town of Lakeshore, on the south shore of Lake St. Clair in south-western Ontario, approximately 35 km east of Windsor, Ontario. The Project has received required environmental permits and approvals and construction of the project is expected to be completed in 2011.

International Power Canada, Inc. (formerly AIM PowerGen Corporation) is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Power plc, a publicly traded UK based power generation company.  Based in Toronto, Ontario, IPC is one of Canada's largest independent wind power developers with a significant pipeline of potential wind and solar projects at various stages of development throughout Canada. To date, they have completed construction of 178 MW of wind power projects in Ontario.

"We are very pleased to be entrusted by International Power to arrange and provide financing for their Pointe-Aux-Roches wind power project," said Bill Sutherland, Senior Managing Director and Head of the Canadian Project Finance Team at Manulife Financial. "As one of Canada's industry leaders in financing renewable energy generally, and wind energy projects in particular, Manulife supports projects like Pointe-Aux-Roches that are environmentally friendly and help buttress the long-term economic growth of Ontario, Canada and North America."

"The Pointe-Aux-Roches financing represents the first financing under Ontario's new Feed-in Tariff program. We are pleased that Pointe-Aux-Roches is moving forward and will soon be providing clean, renewable energy to the province," said Mike Crawley, President of International Power Canada. "We are deeply committed to this business and appreciate Manulife's support of the industry and its expertise in providing financing on this project."

This wind farm financing is one of six that Manulife expects to close in 2010 in North America. The company anticipates following up on this success by completing similar renewable power project financings in 2011.  Manulife is a leading arranger and provider of debt financing for renewable energy projects in Canada.  In the past five years, it has arranged $1.8 billion and provided $840 million in financing for 13 projects in Canada.

Electricity generated by the Point-Aux-Roches Wind Power Project will be sold to Ontario Power Authority under a Feed-in-Tariff Contract ("FIT Contract").

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions.   Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$454 billion (US$428 billion) as at June 30, 2010. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

About International Power

International Power plc is a leading independent electricity generating company with 32,358MW gross (20,671MW net) in operation and 4,567MW gross (1,452MW net) under construction. International Power has power plants in operation or under construction in Australia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Puerto Rico and Thailand. International Power is listed on the London Stock Exchange with ticker symbol IPR. Company website: www.ipplc.com

SOURCE Manulife Financial