Slaughter and May advised Drax Group plc and its subsidiaries (the 'Drax Group') on its agreement with Friends Life for a £75 million amortising guaranteed loan note facility maturing in June 2018 (the 'Facility').

The Facility is supported by a guarantee from HM Treasury, issued under the UK Guarantee Scheme. The UK Guarantee Scheme was announced in July 2012 to help infrastructure projects raise debt finance. Enabling legislation, the Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012, received Royal Assent in October 2012. The Facility is the first project to receive the support of a guarantee issued under the UK Guarantee Scheme.

The Facility replaces £50 million of the £100 million amortising term loan facility agreed with the UK Green Investment Bank, which was announced by the Drax Group in December 2012, and enhances the financing structure executed in December 2012 (on which Slaughter and May also advised) by providing the Drax Group with additional liquidity at competitive all-in cost and securing HM Treasury support for the Drax Group's biomass conversion project.
 
Contacts

Financing: Guy O’Keefe (partner), Andrew Williams (associate), Nicole Mangion (associate); Tax: Mike Lane (partner), Emily Clifford (associate)

http://www.slaughterandmay.com/news-and-recent-work/recent-work/recent-…