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Following is a directory of upcoming projects and related financing in the Latin American power sector. To report new deals or provide updates, please call Amanda Levin, Reporter, at (212) 224-3292 or email: alevin@iinews.com .

Mirant is getting closer to securing a new $750 million revolver, with the running tally of conditional commitments said to be around $680 million, according to market officials. But, with its current $1.125 billion one-year revolver maturing Wednesday, the Atlanta-based IPP may have to exercise a term-out provision (PFR, 7/8) that would convert the revolver in to a one-year loan maturing next July. "Although we expect the term-out to be exercised soon, we remain optimistic that we will ultimately complete the renewal of our bank revolver," Marce Fuller, ceo, said in a statement issued last week.

Tractebel North America is looking to launch its long awaited non-recourse financing for a portfolio of U.S. generation projects by month-end, according to lenders tracking the deal. They add the offshoot of Belgian energy giant Tractebel recently got the green light for the financing from its parent Suez. Calls to Rachel Kilpatrick, Tractebel North America treasurer in Houston, and lead bank Credit Suisse First Boston were not returned by press time.

WestLB has laid off two managing directors, Richard Slocum and Arminee Bowler, from its New York project finance and debt syndication team. Both casualties were high profile players in New York's power financing market. Bowler was the market face of WestLB's syndication desk for a number of years and Slocum was the point man for marketing project bonds in the private market.

Wisconsin Public Service is looking to fund its $120.4 million acquisition of the 180 MW De Pere Energy Center from Calpine via a long-term bond offering. Joe O'Leary, senior v.p. and cfo in Green Bay, Wis., says the company has filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to issue $125-175 million in debt and hopes to get the deal approved by the end of this quarter. The funds from the issue will be used for the initial payment of $72 million and also to retire some existing debt falling due in October and February, he adds.

* Black Hills Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Black Hills Corp has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $75 million in first mortgage bonds (Reuters, 7/15).

Victor Galliano, an equity research analyst who covered Latin American utilities at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria in New York for 10 years, was recently laid off, says Todd Edwards, director of equity research at BBVA in New York. He says analysts in Brazil and Chile have absorbed Galliano's coverage area. It could not be ascertained by press time whether Galliano has found a new post.

Endesa, Spain's largest utility, is looking to divest three Latin American distribution companies, Edesur in Argentina and Companhia Energetica de Ceara (Coelce) and Companhia de Eletricidade do Rio de Janeiro (Cerj) in Brazil. A senior Endesa executive says the company would like to sell the three wires companies, but realizes the downturn in the Latam utility sector likely makes any sale difficult to execute in the near term. However, if a suitor can be found that is willing to make a solid offer, Endesa would accept it. Otherwise, he says, the Spanish utility will retain the assets and continue to improve their quality of services. Jacinto Pariente, an investor relations official at Endesa in New York, declined to comment.

The Inter-American Development Bank will likely approve a $150 million loan to help finance the construction of Termoacu, a 340 MW combined-cycle gas-turbine plant in Rio Grande, Brazil, says an official at the bank. She says a proposal submitted by the project sponsors, Iberdrola and Petrobras, for the loan has been well received at the multilateral institution and approval will probably occur within the next few months. Termoacu is scheduled to come on line in 2004.

AES Gener could be forced into default imminently if its creditors exercise put options on the company's debt, warns Marta Castelli, an analyst at Standard & Poor's in Buenos Aires. She calculates that the Santiago, Chile-based power generator has some $43 million of cash on its balance sheet, but could be forced to stump up $112 million if put options tied to a bank facility and some floating-rate bonds are exercised in the near-term. She declined to name the creditors that hold the puts. Calls to AES Gener were not returned.