Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has advised Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group (“Macquarie”), who, together with Techint Engineering and Construction (“Techint”), closed on the acquisition and financing of the 907 MW combined cycle power generation facility commonly referred to as “Norte III.” The equity and the assets of the project were acquired from affiliates of Abengoa S.A.
Techint will serve as the EPC contractor to the project and will use its Latin American industry-leading expertise as an EPC provider to complete the construction of the project. The project will utilize GE gas turbines and Toshiba steam turbines.
The transaction will provide new equity and debt financing sufficient for the construction and operation of the 907 MW combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The highly-complex transaction included equity and debt restructuring, project development, Mexican regulatory matters, implementation of various M&A transactions and project finance lending.
Financing was obtained from SMBC and Natixis as Coordinating Lead Arrangers; Bancomext, Crédit Agricole, GE, EDC, Norinchukin Bank, KDB, KfW, and Intesa Sanpaolo acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers.
The Milbank team was led by partners Dan Bartfeld, John Franchini and Roland Estevez , as well as senior associates Andrew Everett II and Alejandra Garcia Garcia, special counsel Desiree Woo, and associates Nikkisha Smith, Daniel Valenza, Avni Mehta, Kat Hannah, Andres Arnaldos-Montaner, Emily Suran, Carolyn Matos Montes and Daniel Rios.
Mr. Bartfeld, head of Milbank’s Global Projects, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group, says that “this landmark acquisition and financing highlights the strong investor interest in the Mexican energy markets, and illustrates that strong sponsors like Macquarie Capital and Techint can successfully raise non-recourse debt for well-structured projects.”
Mr. Franchini, head of Milbank’s Global Corporate Group, adds that “the transaction further highlights the strength of Milbank’s integrated M&A, restructuring and project finance capabilities in Mexico and throughout Latin America.”
“We are pleased to have played a key role in this transaction. The project is crucial for the Mexican energy markets, and is an indicator of strong international investment interest in Mexico” added Mr. Estevez.
The transaction reached financial close on August 31, 2017.
