Beijing, September 18, 2008—Shearman & Sterling has been awarded “International Firm of the Year–Project Finance, Infrastructure and Energy” at the China Law and Practice Awards 2008.

The award recognises the China Project Development and Finance team’s work on many of the region’s landmark deals in the last twelve months, highlights of which include advising KEPCO in the US$1.5 billion acquisition of a portfolio of 12 power plants and nine coal assets in Shanxi Province, the largest ever private portfolio acquisition of power projects in China; BASF-YPC Company Limited (a joint venture between BASF and Sinopec) on the US$1.5 billion dollar refinancing of an integrated petrochemical project in Nanjing, China, one of the largest RMB take out refinancings to be done in China to date; and Dow Chemicals in connection with a US$9 billion coal to chemicals project in Shanxi Province, the largest ever FDI project in China.

In addition to the Firm of the Year award, the Fujian Refining & Ethylene Joint Venture Project (FREP) has been named "Project Finance, Infrastructure and Energy Deal of the Year" at the awards. Shearman & Sterling advised the lenders, comprising 11 major PRC banks plus Sinopec Finance Company, on the US$4.5 billion financing for this expansion of an existing refinery in Fujian province, China.

The FREP financing is a landmark deal in terms of size and innovation, being the first integrated refinery and petrochemicals project involving a Sino-foreign joint venture, and the largest project financing for a Sino-foreign joint venture in China to date.

“Our Project Development and Finance team has had an outstanding year,” said Andrew Ruff, Project Finance Partner at Shearman & Sterling in Shanghai. “These awards acknowledge the ability of our lawyers and the quality of the work the team is typically doing in China—large-scale, innovative and complex projects in key industry sectors.”