By Gordon Platt
NORTH AMERICA
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
MUFG led the $585 million nonrecourse financing of the Wind Energy Transmission Texas project, and structured a $387 million construction loan for the Lone Star Transmission project, a 329-mile transmission line.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy
Milbank worked on 140 project financings that raised more than $125 billion for infrastructure projects worldwide in the past three years. It was among the first international law firms to form a dedicated project finance group. It was the top legal adviser on clean-energy projects in the Americas last year.
ARRANGER:
Mizuho Financial Group
Mizuho is a leading arranger of project finance transactions in North America and globally. It is participating in a worldwide alliance that plans to raise $20 billion for investment in infrastructure assets. Mizuho was MLA on a $690 million project financing for NRG Energy’s 550-megawatt gas-fired power plant in California.
SPONSOR:
Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway, is increasing its investments in renewable energy projects. It is the leading owner of wind-powered energy among rate-regulated utilities in the US. Last year it agreed to buy the $2.4 billion Topaz Solar Farm in California and a 49% stake in the Agua Caliente Solar Project in Arizona.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
New York City’s Economic Development Corporation for CornellNYC Tech “Silicon Island”
Cornell University beat out universities around the world for the right to build a $2 billion applied sciences and technology center on Roosevelt Island in New York City’s East River. Cornell won the competition in partnership with Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. New York hopes that CornellNYC Tech, dubbed Silicon Island, will be an incubator for start-up businesses and a magnet for technology companies.
WESTERN EUROPE
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Société Générale
Société Générale was the number-one financial adviser on project finance loans in EMEA in the full year 2011, according to Thomson Reuters. It advised both borrower and arranger on Phase II of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project, supplying the EU with Russian gas.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Linklaters
Among its most notable assignments, Linklaters advised on the RusVinyl PVC plastics plant in Russia and the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed rail link in France. It also advised Royal Bank of Scotland on its sale of project finance assets to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
ARRANGER:
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is a leading project finance arranger Europe. In Q1, it arranged a dozen deals in EMEA, with proceeds of about $1.8 billion. It was involved in major European projects, such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, and the A15 road deal in the Netherlands.
SPONSOR:
DP World
DP World, majority owned by the government of Dubai, worked with the UK government on planning London Gateway, which reached financial close in the fourth quarter of 2011. The project on a 1,000-acre site on the Essex coast will be capable of handling the world’s largest cargo ships.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
London 2012 Olympics
The $15 billion cost of hosting the 2012 Olympics will not be recouped by the UK in the short run, although the economy got a needed boost. The lasting benefit will come from urban renewal in long-neglected East London, which will enjoy improved public transport and a 560-acre park.
NORDIC REGION
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Nordea
Sweden’s Nordea was one of 10 banks that agreed in June to provide $668 million for the 270-megawatt Lincs offshore wind farm in Britain. It advises on many renewable energy projects.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Lindahl
Sweden’s Lindahl advised the arrangers and lenders for the 200-megawatt Jaädraås Wind Farm, Sweden’s largest wind-power project. Lindahl has numerous high-tech clients and also advises shipping and telecom companies.
ARRANGER:
SEB
SEB Project, Asset & Export Finance (PAEF) provides long-term financing for capital-intensive projects. It co-arranged the Jaädraås Wind Farm financing with DnB.
SPONSOR:
Skanska Infrastructure Development
Skanska Infrastructure Development builds and manages highways, hospitals, schools and power plants. It is building the New Karolinska Solna university hospital, Sweden’s first healthcare PPP.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
City of Copenhagen’s North Harbor
Abandoned factories and warehouses will be replaced with residential and retail construction in an urban-regeneration project that will take up to 50 years to complete.
ASIA
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Maybank
Maybank Investment Bank’s project and infrastructure transactions accounted for more than half of all its bond deals in 2011, including the $9.7 billion sukuk for Malaysia’s PLUS Expressways privatization.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Clifford Chance
London-based Clifford Chance has a big presence in Asia. It advised Sumisho Coal Australia on its $2.5 billion investment in Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal in Queensland.
ARRANGER:
State Bank of India
SBI has been the top arranger of project finance loans globally for the past three years. It extended a record 14-year loan to a solar project by Spain’s T-Solar and India’s Astonfield Renewable Resources.
SPONSOR:
Adani Group
India’s Adani Group is a major investor in infrastructure projects. It plans to invest $6 billion by 2015 in overseas projects to develop its resources, logistics and energy businesses.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province zone for urban development
To ease population pressures, Beijing plans to create a capital economic zone with neighboring provincial regions of Tianjin and Hebei.
CEE
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Garanti Bank
Turkey’s Garanti Bank was a leading provider of project finance loans in CEE in 2011. It arranged and underwrote the first lira–denominated project financing for the Karakuz power plant.
LEGAL ADVISER:
White & Case
White & Case has an emphasis on infrastructure, energy and power projects. It advised the banks on the M5 Motorway in Hungary and the E75 Motorway in Serbia.
ARRANGER:
UniCredit
UniCredit was the largest project finance lender in the CEE region last year, with 17 deals, totaling $3.5 billion. The Italian bank was coordinator and lead arranger of financing for the Nord Stream pipeline and four other oil and gas projects in Russia.
SPONSOR:
SunEdison
A leading developer of solar-power systems, SunEdison financed the 60MW Karadzhalovo solar project in Bulgaria in collaboration with the IFC, UniCredit and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation It was the first-ever lira-denominated project financing.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
Polyce Project, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Vienna
Five capital cities in Central Europe are developing a network of “smart cities.” The Polyce research project was conducted by a group of institutes led by Vienna University of Technology.
LATIN AMERICA
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Banco Santander
Banco Santander committed over $1.3 billion to projects in Latin America in 2011. It led a project bond issue for Queiroz Galvão, and was involved in the financing of the Embraport Terminal at Santos.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Machado Meyer Sendacz Opice
Machado Meyer handled more than half of all legal structures for the 12 arenas for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It is a leading adviser on power plants and renewable energy projects.
ARRANGER:
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
MUFG led the $1 billion financing of the Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile, and the $944 million financing of two deep-water drill ships in Brazil.
SPONSOR:
Pan Pacific Copper
Pan Pacific Copper was a sponsor, along with Mitsui, of the $1.4 billion Caserones copper mine in Chile. The project is expected to meet about 11% of Japan’s annual demand for copper concentrate.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
Rio Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
British firm Aecom won the master plan design contract for the Rio Olympic Park to be built for the 2016 games. It makes use of existing buildings constructed for the 2007 Pan American Games.
MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
FINANCIAL ADVISER:
Samba Financial Group
Samba was MLA of the $10.3 billion Barzan gas project in Qatar, the world’s largest project financing to close in 2011, which included a syndicate of more than 30 banks and export credit agencies.
LEGAL ADVISER:
Shearman & Sterling
Shearman & Sterling advised on the $300 million Muharraq wastewater treatment plant in Bahrain and on Egypt’s $3.7 billion Mostorod oil refinery project.
ARRANGER:
Arab Bank
Arab Bank was MLA on financing for Jordan’s Samra wastewater treatment plant expansion, a PPP backed by a Millennium Challenge Corporation grant from the US.
SPONSOR:
Citadel Capital
Egyptian PE firm Citadel Capital, and Egyptian Refining, financed the Mostorod refinery PPP, which is expected to save the country an estimated $300 million a year in diesel fuel imports.
MOST INNOVATIVE STRATEGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (STATE/PROVINCE OR MUNICIPALITY):
Princess Noura Bint AbdulRahman University for Women, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The university has a monorail connecting its 38 energy-efficient buildings, research centers in IT, nanotechnology and biosciences and a 700-bed teaching hospital.
Project Finance and Infrastructure Providers 2012
