MIR- With today's action in MIR on average volume one may want to keep this news item in mind from a month ago. MIR could announce at anytime that it has a fianacing partner. They talked much about that at their last conference call.
Tuesday March 5, 9:09 am Eastern Time
Mirant CEO: On Track To Achieve 1st Quarter Earnings Forecast
By: Christina Cheddar, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Mirant Corp. (MIR) is continuing its talks with commercial and investment banks and insurance companies to strike a strategic partnership that will provide credit support to its marketing and risk management business, Chief Executive Marce Fuller said.
An announcement is expected in the first half of this year, Fuller told an audience at the Morgan Stanley Global Electricity and Energy conference here Tuesday.
Mirant's credit rating was downgraded to junk by Moody's Investors Service in December. Since that time, Mirant has had to post additional collateral to support its marketing and trading operations.
The Moody's downgrade has resulted in the inefficient use of nearly $500 million of capital, and has made it difficult to complete long-term structured transactions, Fuller said.
According to Fuller, Mirant still doesn't know what specific goals it would have to accomplish to be upgraded by Moody's.
"We deserve to be upgraded," Fuller said. However, she added that she wasn't " hopeful" it would occur soon.
Fuller described the talks to find a strategic partner for the marketing business as "competitive," but she declined to provide full details about how such a partnership might operate, citing the ongoing negotiations.
According to Fuller, there are a variety of ways a partner might provide credit support. For example, a partner could securitize the financing of a long- term contract for a fee.
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires) |
