Milbank Recognized as Top Global Law Firm For Clean Energy Project Financings in 2007
New Energy Finance Magazine Acknowledges Firm’s Role in Closing $4.9 Billion of Financings for Clean Energy Sector
NEW YORK, March 5, 2008 – The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has been named “#1 Project Finance Legal Advisor – Clean Energy” for 2007 by New Energy Finance magazine. The award recognizes Milbank’s role in 21 clean energy project financings with an aggregate capital cost of nearly $4.9 billion. New Energy Finance, the world’s leading provider of information and analysis in the renewable energy and low-carbon sectors, released its third annual league tables at the “New Energy Finance Summit and Awards Dinner” in London on February 28, 2008. The league tables present an overview and rankings of the leading investors, banks and lawyers in the clean energy sector in 2007.
Eric Silverman, co-chair of Milbank’s Project Finance Group, said, “The interrelationship between renewables, green technology and carbon regulation is at the heart of what will ultimately be the solution to global energy problems. Being an advisor on these award-winning projects underscores our focus on developing innovative, yet practical approaches to these issues as an essential component of strategic planning for our clients.”
Ed Feo, co-chair of Milbank’s Power, Energy & Utilities Group, stated, “Renewable energy has entered the mainstream of the global energy business as the world wrestles with rising fossil fuel prices, energy security and global warming. Milbank has the team combining financing, regulatory and industry expertise to close deals across the entire green energy sector — renewable electric energy, renewable fuels, wholesale and retail applications, new technology and energy efficiency. It’s terrific to be recognized as the global leader in the critical and burgeoning sector of the global energy industry.”
Milbank was involved in a number of significant renewable energy financings that closed in 2007 and continues to be active in this sector. Among others, notable transactions included:
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Babcock & Brown Global Wind Partners: Represented Babcock & Brown Wind Partners (“BBW”) as to US law in the $1.45 billion portfolio refinancing of the company’s global portfolio of wind assets. The transaction combined the wind farms into a single portfolio with a set of common terms across the entire debt portfolio, providing greater flexibility and achieving savings in cost of funding. The facility is a multi-currency structure with a single BBW borrower for each region and multiple facilities including term, construction, working capital, and letter of credit and guarantee facilities. Named “Asia Renewables Portfolio Deal of the Year” by Euromoney’s Project Finance and “Global Deal of the Year” by Infrastructure Journal.
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Noble Environmental Power (USA): Represented the lenders, HSH Nordbank AG, New York Branch, in the $485 million financing for the Noble turbine project. The proceeds of the financing will be used for the construction of three wind parks located in New York State. Named “North America Renewables Deal of the Year” by Project Finance and “Environmental Deal of the Year” by Project Finance International.
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Airtricity Wind Projects (USA): Represented the lenders, Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG and Norddeutsche Landesbank in four wind financings (Champion, Forest Creek, Munnsville and Roscoe Projects) totaling $754 million, and the lenders Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG and Mizuho Corporate Bank on a $325 million turbine supply loan and project letter of credit for the FINCO wind project.
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Abengoa Bioenergy Project (USA): Represented the lenders, WestLB and Banco Santander and a syndicate of other lenders, in the $300 million financing for the construction of two ethanol plants in the Midwest US by Abengoa Bioenergy Holdings U.S. Inc., a subsidiary of Spanish company Abengoa, S.A. As a result of strong demand, the transaction was reverse-flexed, achieving the tightest pricing to date for a greenfield ethanol financing. Named “Petrochemical Deal of the Year” by Project Finance International.
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Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm Project (USA): Represented the lenders, Mizuho Corporate Bank and HSH Nordbank AG, in the financing for the construction of the $100 million 80 MW Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm Project in Pennsylvania. Once completed, this will be the largest wind farm in Pennsylvania and the largest in the entire mid-Atlantic region.
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SunEdison Solar Energy Project Portfolio (USA): Represented the sponsor, SunEdison, in structuring and negotiating a master lease program for a portfolio of solar power facilities to be developed by SunEdison and sold and leased back from HSH Nordbank and Wells Fargo Leasing (up to $50 million from HSH increased dollar-for-dollar for amounts funded by participating lessors), and in the resulting sale/leaseback transaction.
The New Energy Finance award follows Milbank’s recent recognition by Euromoney’s Project Finance magazine for ten “Deals of the Year”; the Chambers USA 2007 “Energy/Projects Award for Excellence”; the Chambers Global 2007 and 2006 “Global Projects and Energy Law Firm of the Year”; Infrastructure Journal’s 2007 “Number 1 Renewables Legal Adviser,” “Number 1 Wind Legal Adviser” and “Number 1 Power Legal Advisor”; and Dealogic’s 2006 “No. 1 Global Renewable Energy Legal Adviser” and 2006 “No. 1 U.S. Renewable Energy Legal Adviser.”
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions and litigation. Our transactional expertise includes capital markets, corporate finance and transactions, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of law practice. Milbank litigation teams resolve disputes involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy battles, financings and securities offerings, intellectual property, white collar crime, and corporate restructurings, among others. Our 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.