Milbank Represents Lenders in $113 Million Financing for Arkalon Ethanol Plant
NEW YORK, December 18, 2007 – Arkalon Energy, LLC, has closed a $113 million financing for the construction of a 110 million gpy (gallons per year) ethanol plant in southwest Kansas. The financing was led by WestLB and Merrill Lynch. The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, led by partners Dan Bartfeld and Allan Marks and associates Rebecca Campbell and Peter Hughes, represented WestLB and Merrill Lynch in negotiating, structuring and closing the financing.
Milbank’s Bartfeld commented, “Our extensive experience working on alternative energy financings and our understanding of the credit markets enabled us to develop a structure that met the needs of all parties -- notwithstanding the turbulent market conditions.” Mr. Bartfeld recently led the Milbank team representing the lenders in the financing of two ethanol plants in the US for an Abengoa subsidiary, as well as numerous other alternative energy projects throughout the Americas.
The financing was the largest greenfield ethanol financing to achieve financing since the tightening of the credit markets. Milbank's Marks commented, "The parties all worked very hard to complete this transaction on time, adapting the deal to challenging market conditions. It is a significant accomplishment to finance a new ethanol facility like this now, given the rapid expansion of ethanol production capacity in the United States, continuing volatility in corn and ethanol commodity prices, and more limited credit availability generally. The lenders and the project sponsors worked well together to make this deal a success for all parties."
About the Transaction:
Arkalon Energy, LLC manufactures ethanol and related products. Construction on the 110 million gpy plant commenced in August 2006, with an anticipated start-up date of late 2007 – early 2008. Arkalon is strategically located in Liberal, Kansas near the borders of Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas, providing easy access to other markets. The facility is being designed and built by ICM Inc.
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that is recognized for more than 140 years for providing innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions, including capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of law practice. Milbank clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The Firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.