Press Release

Milbank Partner Ed Feo Named “Dealmaker of the Year”

The American Lawyer Honors Prominent Project Finance Attorney for Leadership in Landmark $1.82 Billion Chicago Skyway Privatization

LOS ANGELES, CA, March 31, 2005 – In recognition of his leading role in one of the most important project finance transactions to close in 2004, the $1.82 billion Chicago Skyway privatization, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP project finance partner Edwin F. Feo has been named one of The American Lawyer’s “DEALMAKERS OF THE YEAR” for 2004. The annual awards honor lawyers whose expertise made a significant difference in the outcome of a major transaction or case.

One of the most significant deals of 2004, the $1.82 billion Chicago Skyway privatization has been named the “NORTH AMERICAN TRANSPORT DEAL OF THE YEAR” and “OVERALL NORTH AMERICAN DEAL OF THE YEAR” for 2004 by Euromoney’s Project Finance magazine. Led by Ed Feo, Milbank represented the Cintra-Macquarie consortium in its successful bid for a 99-year agreement to lease and operate the Chicago Skyway toll road, the nearly eight mile long elevated roadway linking the expressway that leads into Chicago’s “Loop” business district with the Indiana toll road in northwest Indiana. Cintra-Macquarie is a joint venture of Cintra Concesiones de Infrastructuras de Transporte SA of Spain and Macquarie Investment Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Limited of Australia. This type of public-private partnership, although common in Europe and elsewhere, is relatively novel in the United States.

Ed Feo’s experience in public-private partnerships and toll road financings, as well as his relationship with Macquarie, made him invaluable to the successful negotiations for the financing of the Chicago Skyway project. In 2003 Ed Feo was one of the lead Milbank attorneys representing the project sponsor Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) in the landmark US$773 million project financing of the SR 125 South private toll road in southern California. The financing for SR 125 South, which is one of the few private toll roads to be financed in the United States, incorporated private equity, bank debt and significant public investment.

One of the most highly regarded project finance lawyers nationwide, Ed Feo is co-chair of Milbank’s Global Project Finance Group and is a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee. Resident in Milbank’s Los Angeles office, Mr. Feo represents companies in corporate and financial transactions in the energy and infrastructure industries. In more than 25 years of practice, Mr. Feo has led numerous transactions in the United States, Latin America and Asia, encompassing the development, acquisition and financing of generation assets, gas pipelines, petrochemical plants, offshore oil rigs, telecommunications infrastructure, and toll roads. He has also developed a specialty in the developing area of renewable energy, including financings for geothermal and wind power projects. Most recently, Mr. Feo was involved in the $123 million Three Winds Holdings wind project in Wyoming and California, and the $108.5 million financing of the Sweetwater II wind project in Texas.

Mr. Feo was actively involved in the California energy crisis representing the unsecured creditors committee in the Pacific Gas & Electric bankruptcy, the bank lenders to Southern California Edison, and sponsors of and lenders to new generation in the State.

Ed Feo is regularly included in Chambers and Partners annual “Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers,” and is cited by clients and other lawyers for his “impeccable” credentials and his project expertise. He is also the recipient of a “CALIFORNIA LAWYER OF THE YEAR” award for 2004 from California Lawyer magazine, and included in the annual “Best Lawyers in America®,” another highly respected objective survey compiled and published by Woodward/White.

About Milbank:
Milbank’s Global Project Finance Department is one of the largest and most experienced among the world’s major law firms. Renowned for its leadership, Milbank has pioneered some of the most innovative project financing techniques, and consistently ranks among the top law international law firms by industry trade publications such as Infrastructure Journal, Privatisation International, Project Finance International, The American Lawyer and Euromoney’s Project Finance Book of Lists. With more than 100 dedicated project finance attorneys in the firm’s offices worldwide, Milbank provides legal advice under both U.S. and English law. As the project finance marketplace has evolved, Milbank’s Global Project Finance attorneys have expanded the range of products and services by working in conjunction with attorneys from other practice areas to encompass restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, development and finance and regulation.

In 2004 Milbank closed $21 billion of deals, a record eight of which were named Euromoney’s Project Finance magazine’s “DEALS OF THE YEAR” and consistent with its global leadership, Milbank has also been named “INTERNATIONAL FIRM OF THE YEAR” by Legal Week, a leading legal industry publication. In addition to the Chicago Skyway privatization, these innovative deals are:

• Brascan Hydro (U.S.): The non-recourse $500 million bridge financing to fund Brascan’s $874 million acquisition of power generating stations from Reliant Energy came to market without a single contract or parent guarantee
  
  

• PearlOil Holdings (Indonesia/Thailand): $35 million borrowing base production loan. The aggregation of the oil and gas fields in Indonesia and Thailand into a single borrowing base structure is the first of its kind in Asia.
  
  

• El Cajon Hydro project (Mexico): The $735 million project financing was the largest deal in Mexico in 2004 and among the largest IPPs ever project financed in Latin America. El Cajon was also named Project Finance International’s “LATIN AMERICAN DEAL OF THE YEAR”.
  
  

• Veladero Mining project (Argentina): The $250 million mine financing was the first project financing in Argentina since the economic crisis, the first ECA transaction in Argentina since the crisis, and the first political risk insurance program for Argentina since the crisis. Veladero was also named Project Finance International’s “MINING DEAL OF THE YEAR”.
  
  

• Three Winds Holdings wind project (U.S.): Landmark $123 million project financing for 152 MW of wind farms developed by Shell Wind Energy.
  
  

• Sohar Independent Water & Power Project (IWPP) (Oman): $544 million syndicated project financing in Oman.
  
  

• MOMA Titanium Project (Mozambique): The $400 million financing was the largest African mine project completed in Africa in 2004, and sets a benchmark for an African investment by a relatively small-cap project company operating in an untried market.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a premier global law firm headquartered in New York, with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Recently named “INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR” by Legal Week, Milbank is a recognized leader in capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of legal practice. The Firm's practice includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions and global securities transactions as well as assisting multinational clients with their cross border investments. Milbank provides a full range of services to many of the world’s leading financial, industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as governments, institutions and individuals.