White & Case LLP has advised Energeticky a prumyslovy holding (EPH) on its agreement to buy Eggborough Power Limited, an acquisition which marks the group’s entry into the UK market.

EPH is a leading Central European energy group operating mainly in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany. The group includes 40 companies, employing more than 10,000 people, operating in coal extraction, electricity and heat production from conventional and renewable sources, electricity and heat distribution, electricity and gas trading and supply to end users.

Shearman & Sterling achieved a victory for client Suntech America when Judge Robert H. Cleland of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan dismissed, with prejudice, a more than $1 billion action alleging that Suntech America and its parent company, Suntech Power Holdings, colluded with other Chinese solar panel manufacturers to dump solar panels in the US at below cost for the purpose of destroying the plaintiff’s business as well as the US solar panel manufacturing industry.

Slaughter and May advised Attarat Power Company (APCO) and the project sponsors, Eesti Energia AS and YTL Power International Berhad, on a fixed price engineering, procurement and construction contract (EPC Contract) with Guangdong Power Engineering Corp. of China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd. The EPC Contract was entered into on 31 October 2014 and is for the design, engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning of a 470 megawatt (net) oil shale-fired power station (the Plant) at Attarat um Ghudran, Jordan on a turnkey basis.

In its latest large capital markets transaction in the energy sector, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has represented SBM Offshore N.V. in the $450 million bond offering supporting the company’s natural gas production center deployed in the Deep Panuke natural gas field off the coast of Nova Scotia.

McCann FitzGerald have been retained by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) as external lawyers to advise on its highly innovative Fibre to the Building (FTTB) broadband joint venture with Vodafone Ireland which recently obtained clearance from the European Commission.

White & Case LLP represented Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. (Freeport LNG) and its subsidiary FLNG Liquefaction, LLC (FLIQ1) in its recently signed $3.85 billion debt financing for the development of the first liquefaction train (Train 1) of Freeport LNG’s multi-train liquefaction and export facility at Quintana Island near Freeport, Texas.

Shearman & Sterling represented E.CL S.A. (“E.CL”), a Chilean power company, in connection with its Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of US$350 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.500% Senior Notes due 2025. The proceeds of the offering, together with other available cash, were used for the full repayment of the outstanding project financing loans of one of its subsidiaries and all costs arising from the early termination of the related interest-rate swaps.

Linklaters has advised the European Energy Exchange (EEX), part of Deutsche Börse Group, on the acquisition of a majority stake in France-based Powernext. In future, EEX will hold 55.8 per cent of the shares in Powernext.

Eversheds has advised the home improvement group entu (UK) plc, on its successful admission to AIM.

Entu provides energy efficiency products and services to homeowners in the UK. The IPO values the business at £65.6m.

The Eversheds team was led by partner Simon Masters and Senior Associate Nicola Brookes and assisted by Associate Helen Yeung and a wider Eversheds team.

Simon commented:

Simpson Thacher represented Tesoro Logistics LP (“TLLP”) and Tesoro Logistics Finance Corp., as co-issuers, in connection with a Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of their 5.50% Senior Notes due 2019 (the “2019 Notes”) and $800.0 million aggregate principal amount of their 6.25% Senior Notes due 2022 (the “2022 Notes”). TLLP will use the proceeds from the 2019 Notes to repay indebtedness outstanding under its revolving credit facility and for general partnership purposes.