Chadbourne Closes More Than $20 Billion in Project Finance Deals for Clients in 2011

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Chadbourne & Parke lawyers closed more than $20 billion in project finance deals in 2011, including the world's largest IPP project being built in Saudi Arabia.

Other highlights in 2011 included working with developers and lenders on the first expansion in nuclear power in the U.S. in 30 years and work for major developers and banks across the entire range of solar power technologies.

"I am very proud of our versatile team of more than 70 project finance lawyers situated in major money centers in the world -- this past year, we represented clients in some of the largest and most complex deals across the renewable energy, conventional power, transmission, nuclear and oil and gas sectors," said Chadbourne project finance group co-head Rohit Chaudhry. "We continue to be one of the most sought-after law firms by clients active in the acquisition, development and financing of large-scale power and other infrastructure projects throughout the world."

Added project finance practice co-head Keith Martin, "2011 was our best year yet and 2012 has started off strong as well."

Chadbourne's lawyers played leading roles in many of the largest and highest profile solar and wind project financings closed in the past year.

On the solar power side, Chadbourne acted for the developer group in acquiring and financing what will be the world's largest photovoltaic power project, estimated to produce over 550MW of capacity when fully built. Another mega deal involved Chadbourne's representation of the lender group in the financing of a 250MW solar thermal project in California, among the largest such projects built anywhere in the world.

Chadbourne lawyers were also tapped by the sponsors of the Alamosa project for the financing of the first high-concentration photovoltaic energy generation facility in the United States, as well as acting for SolarCity, Sungevity and Sunpower on major residential solar projects throughout the United States.

Just like solar, wind energy is on the upswing. Chadbourne worked for many of the top wind developers in 2011, including EDP Renewables North America LLC in both Oklahoma and Ohio, and Gestamp Eolica, S.L. in Maryland. Among the significant deals in this sector, was a cross-border M&A deal in which a leading Canadian energy and services company made a jump into wind by agreeing to purchase a major stake in a new operating wind company. In this deal, Chadbourne represented First Wind in structuring a joint venture enterprise with this Canadian company whereby the parties will each own interests in eight operating wind farms located in the northeast and develop and manage a pipeline of additional onshore wind projects in the region.

Notable biomass deals included Carlyle's first foray into renewable power when it financed the Plainfield waste-to-energy power plant in Connecticut. Chadbourne also worked on many top conventional power deals. Internationally, this is highlighted by work for the sponsors, led by ACWA Power, on the approximately $2 billion debt financing of the 3,927MW Qurayyah independent power project in Saudi Arabia, the largest independent power project in the world. In the U.S., Chadbourne represented lead lenders and banks in the approximately $617 million construction and term loan financing of the Walnut Creek Energy Facility, a 479MW natural gas-fired peaker project located in City of Industry, CA.  The deal is the first Greenfield thermal plant financed with debt at the project and holding company levels in the U.S. since the economy collapsed in late 2008.

Chadbourne's new Brazil office was also busy doing project deals last year. Among the most notable deals in this rapidly expanding market were acting for a Brazilian oil and gas company in relation to the project financing of a deepwater drilling rig and representing Grupo ACS on the securitization of Peruvian government guaranteed receivables used to finance the construction of the Taboada wastewater treatment plant in Lima, Peru.

Summarizing the deal landscape, Chadbourne partner Eli Katz, who works closely with many wind and solar clients, says: "The future in clean-tech is happening right now, and Chadbourne's lawyers are playing a big part in making this all happen."

For 2012, the outlook is mixed in the U.S with the expiration of the Treasury cash grant program and a scaling back of European bank participation in the market. However, the U.S. renewables sector is expected to remain busy as the market looks for new financing strategies to replace cash grants and the solar sector consolidates further.  Chadbourne also expects to do more overseas work and sees a lot of potential in Turkey, where the firm opened an office in September 2011, as well as in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, where the firm also has offices and a long history. 

SOURCE Chadbourne & Parke LLP

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