SINGAPORE, June 1, 2011 – Leading international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP represented The Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-Exim), Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-sure) and a group of 11 international commercial bank lenders in connection with the senior secured financing of a US$2.5 billion greenfield petrochemical facility for Jurong Aromatics on Jurong Island, Singapore. The transaction closed in May 2011.
“The US$1.6 billion senior financing represents one of the largest and most complex project financings on nonrecourse terms in the region and is one of the first project financings of its type in the world to include a subordinated debt tranche,” said James Murray, lead partner for the Milbank team.
Young Joon (YJ) Kim, a Milbank partner with a particular focus on advising the Korean export credit agencies,noted: “By far the largest share of the debt or guarantee/insurance coverage came from K-Exim and K-sure, demonstrating the substantial commitment of Korean government agencies in supporting important offshore development projects involving Korean contractors and sponsors.”
The Milbank team also included Singapore-based project finance specialists Kristina Hokenberg, Melissa Lewis and Peter Norman.
The financing is structured as a staged funding process with the eight sponsors (including the leading Korean energy group SK, Switzerland’s Glencore and EDBI, the investment arm of the Government of Singapore) contributing their entire equity portion prior to the funding of debt. The subordinated lenders will fund their facilities prior to the drawdown of the senior facilities. The senior commercial banking lenders were: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, BNP Paribas, DnB NOR Bank ASA, DZ BANK, ING Bank N.V., Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., KfW, Korea Development Bank, NATIXIS, The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. and Standard Chartered Bank.
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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a leading international law firm that has been providing innovative legal solutions to clients throughout the world for more than 140 years. Milbank is headquartered in New York and has offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, São Paulo, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, DC. The Firm’s lawyers provide a full range of legal services to the world’s leading commercial, financial and industrial enterprises, as well as to institutions, individuals and governments. Milbank’s lawyers meet the needs of our clients by offering a highly integrated and collaborative range of services across key practice groups throughout our global network. Milbank’s integrated practice is underpinned by our attorneys’ acknowledged technical excellence, sectoral expertise and a strong tradition of innovation and client service.