Service Areas

Our clients benefit from our ability to create multi-disciplinary teams of professionals with extensive industry experience covering a broad range of service areas. These include:

Project Finance
Milbank’s Global Project Finance Group is consistently ranked as one of the top practices globally and is known for pioneering innovative finance techniques. A large number of our project finance engagements are in the power and energy industries, including independent power projects, cogeneration, coal, hydro, nuclear, wind and alternative power, power transmission and distribution, pipelines, oil and gas and petrochemicals, including exploration, production, storage, refining,  LNG and production platforms. In these financings, our practice is evenly divided between representation of project sponsors and developers on one hand, and lenders, underwriters and investors on the other. Increasingly, our clients seek assistance in transactions involving infrastructure projects and other regulated industries, restructurings and refinancings, mergers and acquisition, asset dispositions, foreign investment, and a wide range of commercial dealings related to project development.

In addition, we have unparalleled experience in developing and financing one of the power and energy industry’s most important emerging areas – merchant power plants. We have led the project financing of many of these entrepreneurial ventures throughout the world.

Project Development & Construction
We represent project sponsors and strategic investors in all aspects of project development and construction, including structuring and negotiating design, engineering, procurement and construction contracts; turbine supply agreements: power purchase agreements, energy management agreements and complex hedging transactions; operations, management and maintenance agreements; interconnection agreements; real estate arrangements; and environmental and regulatory compliance and planning.

Mergers & Acquisitions
Our lawyers are especially qualified to advise on the wide range of issues that occur in strategic combinations and acquisitions of generation assets. Unlike most firms, Milbank uniquely combines “takeover” know-how and regulatory expertise. We can help clients negotiate many of the difficult issues arising in the mergers and acquisitions without the need to hire two firms – one for M&A counsel and one regulatory expert. Our worldwide financial practice gives us an advantage in cross-border transactions. In addition, we can provide counsel on tax, financing, including bank loans, public and private debt and equity, bankruptcy and litigation matters, all of which may need to be considered in structuring a strategic combination.

Cross Border
We have represented U.S. power and energy companies investing abroad, as well as those investing in the U.S., or being acquired by U.S. entities, and in a wide range of cross-border bank and capital markets financings. Our cross-border experience has involved deals throughout Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. We have experience with securities laws in the context of cross-border tender offers, the offering of foreign issuer securities in the U.S. and the co-ordination of U.S. regulatory processes in several precedent setting transactions. We have also assisted a number of U.S. companies in obtaining authority or exemptions from the SEC to invest in foreign power and energy companies, and in acquisitions of U.S. power assets and companies by foreign investors.

Capital Markets
Milbank has a far-reaching capital markets practice known for its technical excellence, innovation, imaginative problem solving and experience in public and private offerings. We have experience with representing venture capital investors, equity investments by strategic investors, private placements, IPOs, bond offerings under Rule 144A, registered public offerings, Term B financing and private equity transactions. We are among the largest U.S. law firms representing both domestic and foreign electric power industry issuers and underwriters, and are a leader in Rule 144A, public debt and equity offerings for energy and infrastructure projects.

Milbank regularly represents all of the key parties in public offerings and private transactions: issuers, underwriters, placement agents, institutional and individual investors and selling shareholders and those providing credit support through guarantees, surety bonds and letters of credit. We also represent other parties involved in capital markets transactions, such as trustees and fiscal agents, in addition to a number of important institutions which play a role in many capital markets transactions, such as the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. and the International Primary Dealers’ Association (IPDA).

Environmental/Regulatory Counseling
Milbank's Environmental Practice Group performs specialized environmental services in connection with our Power, Energy & Utilities Group. We counsel industrial and energy companies, lenders, investors and buyers regarding complex environmental and natural resource regulatory compliance and permitting strategies, such as advising electricity generation companies on environmental permitting, emissions trading and Clean Air Act regulatory changes, and advising lenders and investors about the business implications of proposed and pending environmental legislation and regulations. In addition, we negotiate and close financing for environmental projects, such as waste management facilities, water and wastewater treatment facilities and privatizations, and pollution control and environmental technology companies, and renewable energy projects, such as wind energy, biomass, and landfill gas projects, including the evaluation and transfer of renewable energy credits.