New York, December 16, 2008—Two landmark Latin America project financings on which Shearman & Sterling advised, GNL Quintero and Angamos, were awarded “Deal of the Year” by Project Finance International (PFI).
“We have been involved in a number of significant project finance deals in 2008 in Latin America and globally,” said Cynthia Urda Kassis, the New York-based co-head of Shearman & Sterling’s Project Development & Finance Group. “GNL Quintero and Angamos are noteworthy not only for their particular structural arrangements, but also because of the difficult financial environment in which they were executed—similar to the historic Panama Canal financing, which we were also involved in and which was just signed last week.”
GNL Quintero, named “Americas Oil & Gas Deal of the Year,” is a $1.1 billion project financing for GNL Quintero S.A., a joint venture among ENAP, Endesa, Metrogas and BG, that is building a receiving, storage and regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas in central Chile—the first terminal of its kind to be built in the southern hemisphere. Shearman & Sterling represented the mandated lead arrangers, including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., Banco Español de Crédito S.A., Banco Santander S.A., New York Branch, Calyon, New York Branch, Fortis Bank S.A./N.V., New York Branch, ING Capital LLC, Intesa Sanpaolo S.P.A., Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. and WestLB AG, New York Branch.
The principal attorneys in the GNL Quintero transaction were New York-based partners Cynthia Urda Kassis (Project Development & Finance), Azam Aziz (Derivatives) and Howard Steinberg (Project Development & Finance), and associates Abigail Berry (Project Development & Finance), Michelle Crutchfield (Derivatives), Marcia Dawes (Project Development & Finance), Juan Cristobal Pellegrini (Capital Markets) and Barbara Zylberg (Finance).
Angamos, named ”Americas Power Deal of the Year,” was selected by PFI because of what the journal called its “flexibility and importance.” The Angamos project, located in Mejillones, Chile, is a 462 MW (net) pulverized coal-fired generating facility. The facility consists of two 231 MW generation units, a coal yard and associated infrastructure, including a new 220 kV approximately 141 km double circuit overhead electrical transmission line running from the switchyard of the facility to the existing substation in Laberinto, Chile.
Shearman & Sterling represented BNP Paribas and ABN AMRO as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners in connection with the $998 million senior secured non-recourse project financing for the construction of the facility being developed by AES Gener S.A. The financing closed October 22, 2008. Project cost is budgeted at $1.26 billion. A portion of the debt ($675 million) was insured by the Korean Export Insurance Company (KEIC) against political and commercial risk; this is KEIC’s first transaction in the Americas.
The principal attorneys in the Angamos transaction include a New York-based Project Development & Finance team consisting of partner Gregory Tan, associates Alexandro M. Padrés, Karen Saah, Danny Choi, Courtney Lemli and Joanna Leung and international associate Rosario Celedón.
Shearman & Sterling’s Project Development & Finance Group has had an exceptional year in the Americas. Ranked No. 1 for the Americas on Project Finance International’s Q3 2007 – Q3 2008 league table, the group advised on four of the top ten deals in the Americas in Q3 alone, including Puget Energy, North America Energy Alliance and GNL Quintero, according to Thomson One. During the turbulent credit market of the fourth quarter, the group further closed Angamos as well as the historic $5.25 billion financing of the Panama Canal Expansion Program, which involved a complex financing structure exclusively led by five multilaterals.
For additional information contact: Ron Brandsdorfer | New York | T +1.212.848.5081 |