Press Release
Milbank Represents Institutional Investors and Bank Lenders for $602 Million Financing of Neptune RTS™ Project
Financing to Fund Construction of 65 Mile Undersea Transmission Line Connecting New Jersey Interconnection Site with LIPA’s Grid on Long Island
NEW YORK CITY, July 22, 2005 – Leveraging the strengths of its power & energy and project financing capabilities, the international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, led by partner Jonathan Green, represented the institutional investors and bank lenders for the $602 million financing of the Neptune RTS™ Project.
Milbank represented the institutional investors and bank lenders in the private placement of $550,000,000 senior secured notes (rated BBB by Fitch) of Neptune Regional Transmission System, LLC (Neptune RTS™) and a $52,000,000 letter of credit facility.
The $602,000,000 financing for Neptune RTS™ will ultimately result in a 65 mile long 660 MW undersea high voltage direct current (HVDC) electric transmission line connecting the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) interconnection site in Sayreville, New Jersey with the Long Island Power Authority’s (LIPA) grid in Long Island, New York, with converter stations located at each terminus of the transmission line.
Commercial operation is expected to commence in July 2007 and LIPA will purchase 100% of the Long Island-bound capacity over the transmission line pursuant to a 20-year transmission capacity purchase agreement. A turnkey construction contract is provided by Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution, Inc. and Pirelli Power Cable & Systems USA L.L.C.
Commenting on the financing, Milbank partner Jon Green stated, “The Neptune RTS™ Project is an example of a creative energy solution for a power constrained market. As a result residents in Long Island will have increased access to power at more attractive pricing. Working closely with the institutional investors and bank lenders, the Milbank attorneys combined our depth of experience in the power & energy sector with our expertise in financing to structure and negotiate a financing that meets the needs of the project as well as the investors.”
The Milbank team representing the institutional investors and bank lenders was led by partner Jonathan Green, of counsel Bruce Gardner, regulatory advisor Jim Liles and associates Nick DeCarlo, Brandon Dalling, Erika Delduca and Ricardo Exantus.
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.
The depth of Milbank’s project finance expertise ranges from power generation, power transmission and distribution, pipelines, oil and gas and petrochemicals, telecommunications and space, waste disposal and recycling, water treatment, mining and natural resources, pulp/paper, transportation, to other types of infrastructure.
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. 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 capital markets transactions as well as assisting multinational clients with their cross border investments. Milbank provides both English and New York law capabilities to its clients, and a full range of services to many of the world’s leading financial, industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as governments, institutions and individuals.