ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) today announced that it has closed its private placement of $535 million of senior unsecured notes due 2016. Due to investor demand, the offering was increased by more than 50 percent, from $350 million to $535 million, netting proceeds of approximately $492 million.

“Our plan has been to maximize our financial flexibility over the next several years by addressing all of our near-term maturities. The enthusiastic and clear response of the debt market to this offering confirms the confidence in our plan, which maximizes our liquidity and flexibility during these times of increased volatility in the financial markets,” said Paul Hanrahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of AES.

Proceeds from the debt offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, payment of $368 million in debt maturing in 2009 and 2010, or replacement of the senior unsecured credit facility, which expires in 2010.

The senior unsecured notes offering followed last week’s amendment of AES's first priority secured credit agreement, which includes a revolving line of credit. The amendment resulted in a $35 million increase in revolving commitments through June of 2010 and a one-year extension of $605 million of revolving commitments from June 2010 to July of 2011.

“Before this week’s debt offering, AES’s parent company Liquidity was nine times our 2009 debt maturities. This transaction, coupled with last week’s extension of our revolving line of credit, is part of our long-term strategy to proactively manage our financial commitments and liquidity beyond 2009,” said Victoria D. Harker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AES.

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell any securities of the company. The Senior Notes were sold only to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A, and outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Senior Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Parent Company Liquidity (a non-GAAP financial measure) is defined as cash at the Parent Company and cash at qualifying holding companies ($247 million) plus availability under corporate revolvers ($1,143 million). The reconciliation of $1,390 million of Parent Company Liquidity above is as of December 31, 2008. AES believes that unconsolidated Parent Company Liquidity is important to the liquidity position of AES as a Parent Company because of the non-recourse nature of most of AES’s indebtedness.

About The AES Corporation

The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) is a Fortune 500 global power company with generation and distribution businesses. Through our diverse portfolio of thermal and renewable fuel sources, we safely provide affordable and sustainable energy to 29 countries. Our workforce of 25,000 people is committed to operational excellence and meeting the world's changing power needs. Our 2008 revenues were $16 billion and we manage more than $35 billion in total assets. BusinessWeek named AES to its 2009 “BW 50” list. To learn more, please visit www.aes.com.

Safe Harbor Disclosure

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those related to future earnings, growth and financial and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are not intended to be a guarantee of future results, but instead constitute AES’s current expectations based on reasonable assumptions. Forecasted financial information is based on certain material assumptions. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, AES’s accurate projections of future interest rates, commodity price and foreign currency pricing, continued normal levels of operating performance and electricity volume at AES’s distribution companies and operational performance at AES’s generation businesses consistent with historical levels, as well as achievements of planned productivity improvements and incremental growth investments at normalized investment levels and rates of return consistent with prior experience.

Actual results could differ materially from those projected in AES’s forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties and other factors. Important factors that could affect actual results are discussed in AES’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the risks discussed under Item 1A “Risk Factors” in AES’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Readers are encouraged to read AES’s filings to learn more about the risk factors associated with AES’s business. AES undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.