LOS ANGELES, October 24, 2008 – International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP represented the joint lead arrangers, Fortis Capital Corp. and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., in a construction and term financing of the 100 MW Phase II Mount Storm wind project which closed on September 26, 2008 despite the ongoing turmoil in the global financial markets. Developed by affiliates of Dominion Resources Inc. and Shell WindEnergy, Inc., the two-phase West Virginia project is being constructed on the Allegheny Front in Grant County, identified as one of the best wind turbine locations in the eastern United States. Milbank represented the same joint lead arrangers in the closing and syndication of the $185 million construction and term financing of the 164 MW Phase I of the wind project. The Phase I construction financing closed in October 2007 and was successfully term-converted on September 30, 2008.
“The global financial crisis posed formidable challenges to completing the transaction as credit committees of the banks participating in the financing demanded additional comfort before agreeing to lend,” said Project Finance partner Edward V. Kayukov, who spearheaded the project, working with associate Christa Chan-Pak, both in the firm’s Los Angeles office. “The credit crisis coupled with the dearth of tax equity will continue to pose significant difficulties for the renewable energy sector in the coming months.” When the two phases of the 264-MW Mount Storm wind project are completed, it will generate enough electricity for more than 65,000 homes.
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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions to many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions and litigation. The firm’s 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. The firm’s 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 Los Angeles, Washington, DC, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing.