Project Finance & Development
Overview
Locke Lord’s project finance and development attorneys represent clients in a wide range of industries, including traditional and alternative energy, mining, oil and gas and infrastructure development in both domestic and international projects. Our practitioners are skilled in identifying project risk and advising our clients with respect to optimizing risk allocation.
Our project finance attorneys routinely work with and negotiate the full range of complex commercial and financing documents, including concession and stabilization agreements, EPC and EPCM agreements, off-take, supply and power purchase agreements, O&M contracts, hedging arrangements, parallel debt structures, leasing structures, joint venture, shareholder and other equity ownership arrangements, public-private partnerships and debt and security documents, within the United States and throughout the world including Africa, South and Central America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Our legal team provides a broad range of capabilities essential to successful project development and financing. These professionals include our practitioners in environmental, tax, federal and state regulatory, real estate, public law, international, litigation and arbitration, public finance, intellectual property and licensing, and private equity. The firm’s integrated office and practice group approach to client service enables us to customize our legal teams to match each client’s needs and projects in a manner that is seamless and efficient.
Our project finance attorneys have developed close working relationships with a broad consortium of multilateral lending and export credit agencies including OPIC, Ex-Im, the African Development Bank and MIGA, multi-national commercial lenders, political risk insurers, local counsel, financial advisors, project managers, construction and development companies and technology providers. We view these relationships as crucial to conducting effective negotiations and resolving differing positions on complex legal and commercial issues on behalf of our clients.
Our Washington, D.C.-based public law and policy group, Locke Lord Strategies, offers our clients the enhanced access and public strategies services essential to the success of certain projects developed within the U.S. and overseas. Locke Lord Strategies maintains an active domestic and international practice representing both U.S. and foreign companies in U.S., cross-border and international transactions. Strategies routinely works with U.S. agencies key to project development, both within the U.S. and internationally, foreign governments and government owned industries. The firm’s long-standing lobbying capabilities and ability to provide our clients with access to Congress and the Executive branch has enabled our U.S. and foreign clients to more effectively and efficiently undertake major projects and transactions around the world. We also are able to assist our clients in designing and executing robust and proactive public affairs and media strategies, which are essential to successful project development and financing.
- Represented a U.S. public company as the borrower in the financing of an acquisition of a coal mine.
- Represented the project developer in the development and financing of a major copper and cobalt mining project in central Africa.
- Represented the Moroccan state-owned refinery in the financing and construction of a $900 million upgrade of its oil refinery involving SACE, the Italian export credit agency; African Development Bank; Proparco; international commercial lending institutions; Moroccan lending institutions; and hedge providers.
- Represented a joint venture in the financing of a $750 million cold water port terminal for the storage of crude in Russia, which involved U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) financing.
- Represented the project developer in the financial restructuring of a major power project in Colombia, including the renegotiation of certain loans held by OPIC and the U.S. Export Import Bank (Ex-Im).
- Represented the lender and PPA offtaker in a $41 million project finance transaction to construct a 10 MW solar photovoltaic facility in New Jersey.
- Represented the project developer in the development and financing of a refinery transforming waste oil into usable lubricants.
- Advised the Government of Liberia on various investment agreements with foreign private investors for the lease and development of oil palm plantations, including the construction of processing mills and related infrastructure.
- Represented the project developer in the development and construction of a major mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Represented a Canadian mining company in the development and construction of a 115.6 MW electric power generation facility in Nevada.
- Advised an Indian tribe in the development and construction of multiple casino and related infrastructure projects in the Northeast United States.
- Represented a Japanese gas turbine manufacturer in sale of gas turbines to several U.S.-based power generation facilities and negotiation of related long-term services agreements.
- Represented an international energy company in drafting and negotiating EPC contracts for injection station and pipeline in Mont Belvieu area.
- Represented a joint venture in connection with a 110 MW barge-mounted oil-fired facility in Guatemala. This facility was the first barge-mounted facility ever developed.
- Represented a private power developer in the development of a coal-fired heating plant in Beijing, China, with respect to offtake agreements.
- Represented an international turbine manufacturer in connection with the negotiation and preparation of an operation and maintenance agreement for the Hsin Tao Project in Taiwan.
- Represented a private power developer in the development of a 130 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in South Sumatra, Indonesia, including the negotiation and preparation of operation and maintenance agreements and a long- term parts and services agreement.
- Represented an international power developer in the first phase of a multi-phased development of power generation facilities aggregating approximately 1,000 MW fueled by natural gas in Brazil and negotiation and preparation of a bifurcated engineering, procurement and construction contract.
- Represented a private consortium in acquisition of Enron’s 50 percent interest in the Centragas pipeline system in Brazil.
- Represented a major E&P company in its international transactions, including: (1) Drafting and negotiating drilling contracts for wells drilled offshore in Egypt, Yemen, and the Ivory Coast, including the charter of a new deepwater drill ship for an exploratory well drilled in 4,800 feet of water; (2) Drafting and negotiating gas transportation and interconnection agreements for pipelines in the Ivory Coast; (3) Preparing and negotiating master services agreements for work to be performed in Pakistan, which served as a basis for a global services agreement; (4) Preparing numerous consulting agreements associated with the client’s international operations; (5) Preparing licensing agreements for specialty software for use in play analysis; (6) Working to develop a 3-D seismic survey acquisition agreement for work to be performed offshore of Pakistan; and (7) Advising the client on international trade issues, including the applicability of U.S. trade embargoes with certain oil producing states, and on U.S. Customs issues concerning drill pipe imported under temporary bond for alteration.
- Counseled a major private energy company in negotiating a power development, pipeline and energy marketing joint venture with a major electric utility. This project involved extensive regulatory analysis, assessment of existing power projects and energy trading operations and negotiation of ownership, governance and risk allocation with respect to the joint venture. Starting with assets of more than $1 billion, this joint venture is considered one of the most successful energy traders in the country.
- Represented a multilateral financing agency in drafting and negotiation of various financing and security documents in connection with limited-recourse financing of 56 MW combined cycle power plant in Senegal.
- Represented a client in connection with real estate matters arising from a nationwide development of biodiesel fuel facilities.
- Represented a publicly traded gas utility company in connection with its $1 billion syndicated credit facility.
- Represented a public energy company in all facets of the development of a 588 MW cogeneration plant in Louisiana.
- Spearheaded development of 200 MW inside-the-fence QF in South Texas, involving unique structuring issues.
- Represented developer of 1000 MW merchant facility in North Texas in all aspects of development and non-recourse project financing of project, including regulatory considerations.
- Represented developer of 350 MW combined cycle gas-fired EWG in North Texas, including in all aspects of permitting, development and non-recourse project financing.
- Represented developer of landfill gas projects in master project finance agreement with major American snack food provider.
- Represented Australian infrastructure development company in $160 million acquisition and project financing of district energy assets in two major United States cities.
- Represented biofuel technology company in all aspects of the development and project financing for a new biodiesel facility. The financing will constitute one of the first uses of a Sharia’a (Islamic law) compliant structure for project finance in the U.S.
- Represented the developer in the project financing for a $90 million power plant in Southeast United States.
- Represented the developer in connection with its $95 million project financing from Credit Lyonnais and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America for an electric generating plant near Baconton, Georgia.
- Represented a preeminent distributor of natural gas in the U.S. as lead counsel in several project finance deals.
- Represented a private energy company in connection with the development and project financing of a natural gas liquids project involving the recovery of natural gas liquids from “off-gases” from petroleum refineries.
- Represented the issuer in $380 million alternative fuels power generation non-recourse facility.
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