>>> Supplier Diversity SDG&E Works with Minority-Owned Investment Bank S
an Diego Gas & Electric, a unit of Sempra Energy, recently closed a pub-
lic offering of $350 million of 10-year first-mortgage bonds. This transaction marks the second time SDG&E has used a minority-owned investment bank as co- lead in a bond offering.
As part of its overall commitment to supplier diversity, SDG&E selected Castle Oak Securities L.P., a New York-based, African-American-owned investment bank, to be one of four joint lead managers, along with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets, LLC and UBS Investment Bank. “We are proud of our ongoing commit- ment to provide opportunities for minority-
owned banks and investment banking firms to participate on an equal footing with oth- er major financial institutions in these kinds of transactions,” said Lee Schavrien, senior vice president of finance, regulatory and legislative affairs for SDG&E.
“Diversity is an everyday core value at SDG&E,” said Schavrien. “Having Cas- tleOak as a joint lead on this deal is just another example of good business deci- sions we believe benefit our customers and the communities we serve.” The bonds bear an interest rate of 3.0
percent and mature on Aug. 15, 2021. Ac- cording to the underwriters, at the time of issuance, this deal was record-breaking -- the lowest coupon ever issued for a 10-year
utility bond offering -- although new re- cords continue to be set this week. The bonds are rated “Aa3” by Moody’s Inves- tors Service and “A+” by Standard & Poor’s Corp. Two other minority-owned underwrit-
ers -- Guzman & Company and The Wil- liams Capital Group -- were co-managers on this bond issuance. Proceeds of the bonds will be used to
fund SDG&E’s robust, five-year capital in- vestment plan that includes construction of the Sunrise Powerlink transmission line, which is on target to be in service next year, as well as the purchase of the El Do- rado power plant in Nevada from SDG&E’s sister affiliate company Sempra Genera- tion.
“SDG&E continues to lead the way
among California utilities in ‘walking the talk’ on diversity and in creating new op- portunities for minority companies in this dynamic capital market,” said Timothy Alan Simon, a commissioner on the Cali- fornia Public Utilities
Commission
(CPUC). “We commend SDG&E for mak- ing significant strides toward the goals of the Commission’s General Order 156.” CPUC General Order 156 requires in-
vestor-owned utilities to submit annual plans for increasing the participation of businesses owned by women, minorities and disabled veterans in utility procure- ment.
SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.5 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 850,000 nat- ural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help our customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is a subsidiary
of Sempra Energy (NYSE:
SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services hold- ing company based in San Diego.
Source: San Diego Gas & Electric
http://www.sdge.com
20
www.blackeoejournal.com The Black EOE Journal
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