S&P Rates Rowville Transmission Facility Bnds AAA.

Business Editors

MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2000

Standard & Poor's Tuesday assigned its triple-"A" (preliminary) rating to the A$28 million CPI-indexed bonds due Dec. 25, 2028, issued by Rowville Transmission Facility Pty. Ltd. (Rowville).

The rating is based on a financial guarantee provided by MBIA Insurance Corp. (MBIA) on the underlying transaction, which irrevocably and unconditionally guarantees the principal and interest payments on the bonds. MBIA is rated triple-"A" with a stable outlook for local currency obligations. The underlying rating on the bonds without the benefit of MBIA's financial guarantee is triple-"B"-plus.

Rowville is a special-purpose company incorporated to issue securities to partially fund its acquisition of the transmission facility and the corresponding rights under the project contracts from TXU Electricity Ltd. and TXU (No. 13) Pty. Ltd. (together, TXU).

Upon acquisition of the facility, Rowville will assume TXU's obligation under the network agreement with VENCorp to operate and maintain the facility, and be paid a stable stream of revenue. Under the operation and maintenance agreement between Rowville and TXU, TXU as the operator for the facility will assume Rowville's operating risk under the network agreement, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire