Project Finance Practice Advises on Five “Deals of the Year”

IJGlobal has recognized the Project Development & Finance Practice of Latham & Watkins for advising on five “Deals of the Year” spanning power, oil & gas and infrastructure sectors across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region at the 2016 IJGlobal Awards. According to the project finance and infrastructure journal, the IJGlobal Awards recognize “outstanding transactions and institutions from the world of infrastructure finance” across the globe.

The honored projects include:

• Western Interconnect Transmission (“North America Transmission Deal of the Year”) — Latham represented the lenders in sponsor Pattern Renewables’ construction and term financings of the 35-mile Western Interconnect transmission line in New Mexico. The same Latham teams simultaneously represented the lenders in Pattern’s senior and subordinated construction and term financings of the Broadview wind farms located in New Mexico and Texas, which will utilize the Western Interconnect transmission line to transmit generated power to other transmission systems. The integrated debt financings comprised two senior construction loan facilities, a senior letter of credit facility, a holdco construction loan facility and two back-leverage term loan facilities.
• Sabine Pass LNG and Creole Trail Pipeline (“North America Refinancing Deal of the Year”) — Latham represented liquefied natural-gas terminal developer Cheniere Energy Partners as sponsor in a US$2.8 billion refinancing of its Creole Trail Pipeline, a 94-mile natural gas pipeline that runs through western Louisiana. The facility also provided for the refinancing of the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal, an LNG regasification terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The complex refinancing, which included two tranche term loans and a revolving credit facility, involved 16 arrangers.
• Maryland Purple Line Light Rail (“North America Rail Deal of the Year”) — Latham advised the underwriters on a project bond financing for the development, design, construction, equipping, operation and maintenance of a 16.02 mile light rail transit line in Maryland.  The financing featured tax-exempt private activity revenue bonds totaling more than US$313 million, together with an approximately US$875 million secured loan from the US Government issued under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program.
• Tengizchevroil Future Growth and Wellhead Pressure Management Project (“European Oil & Gas, Upstream Deal of the Year”) — Latham represented the lenders and underwriters in the financing of a significant expansion of the Tengizchevroil crude oil processing facilities in Kazakhstan. The expanded facilities will be able to produce an additional 12 million metric tons annually, as well as additional sour gas production and upgrades to the wellhead pressure system. The multi-sourced financing included a US$3 billion loan facility provided by commercial banks, a US$1 billion bond issuance, and loans from affiliates of Chevron Corporation and an international oil and gas company.
• Tangguh LNG Train 3 Expansion (“Asia-Pacific Oil & Gas Deal of the Year”) — Latham represented the Republic of Indonesia in the financing of the Train 3 expansion of the Tangguh liquefied natural gas plant in West Papua, Indonesia. The facility currently consists of offshore gas production facilities that supply two liquefaction trains. The Train 3 expansion includes the construction by July 2020 of an onshore LNG process Train with liquefaction capacity of 3.8 million tons per annum, two offshore platforms, 13 new production wells, a new LNG jetty and supporting infrastructure. This will bring the Tangguh LNG plant to a total capacity of 11.4 million tons per annum (mtpa).  Notably, this over US$8 billion project, with a total debt value of US$3.75 billion, is the first project in Indonesia to be financed by both international and domestic banks, and it is the first upstream LNG project in Indonesia since 2007.