Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised long-time client MSC Cruises (“MSC”) on the €1.2 billion (US$1.35bn), export credit agency (ECA) supported financing of two newbuild ‘Seaside class’ cruise ships, which will be the largest vessels ever built by the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy.
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Eolsiponto S.r.l. on the financing for the development of a 17.5MW wind farm located in Manfredionia, Puglia Region of Italy. This project has been one of the few financing transactions in the wind sector in the last 12 months to have reached financial close under the terms of Italy’s revised renewable energy incentive tariff scheme. Cubico Sustainable Investment, one of the world’s leading investment companies in the renewable energy and water sectors, were sponsors of the project.
HFW Partner Tony Rice and Senior Associate Aysha El-Kaddah recently acted for Tristar Transport LLC in relation to the limited recourse operating lease financing of 6 MR Product Tankers currently under construction and which will, when delivered, be time chartered to Shell on long term Shelltime charters.
Ashurst advised Infinis Energy plc, a leading independent generator of renewable power in the UK, on the £83 million project financing for the Galawhistle Wind Farm on the borders of South Lanarkshire and East Ayrshire.
The wind farm, under development since 2007, will have 22 turbines with an installed capacity of 66MW. First exported power is expected by November 2016, and it is anticipated that Galawhistle will generate electricity for 25 years. Santander Global Banking & Markets and Barclays Bank acted as joint lead arrangers.
A cross-office Clifford Chance team has advised Banco Santander, S.A., on the USD 200 million financing of the Longitudinal de la Sierra – Tramo 2 toll road project in Peru, which is to be developed by a consortium formed by SACYR Concesiones, S.L.U. in Spain, and Sacyr Concesiones Peru S.A.C. and Constructora Málaga Hnos S.A. in Peru.
NautaDutilh assisted the bank consortium comprising of N.V. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten, ING Bank N.V. and Coöperatieve Rabobank Rotterdam U.A. in the EUR 180 million financing of a new development and renovation/ refurbishment for the benefit of the Parnassia Group.
The various parts of the Parnassia Group provide psychological and addiction care. Parnassus Group has more than 560 locations in the Netherlands, with three core regions, namely Noord Holland, Haaglanden and Rijnmond.
DLA Piper has provided pro bono advice to STREAT on their award winning Cromwell Manor project in Melbourne.
STREAT is a social enterprise that provides homeless and disadvantaged people aged 16 to 25 with a supported pathway into the hospitality industry. This month, STREAT will embark on the flagship refurbishment and redevelopment of the Cromwell Manor site in Collingwood, which will enable STREAT to scale its operations to be fully self-sustaining from 2016 in order be able to assist 250 young people per year into work.
Ashurst advised European Investment Bank ("EIB") on the financing of the construction of offshore wind farm Nordergründe in the German North Sea. EIB provides the debt financing in a banking consortium together with KfW IPEX-Bank. The borrower is OWP Nordergründe GmbH & Co. KG, a project company managed by German energy developer wpd offshore GmbH ("WPD"). The total financing volume amounts to €410 million. EIB agreed to support the project with €156 million.
DLA Piper assisted Nord/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank in the €29.75 million financing to European Wind Energy (EWE), a company of the WSB Neue Energien Group, for the construction of an 18 MW wind farm in the Municipality of Melfi (Potenza).
The wind farm has been admitted to the public subsidies in the GSE's public tender closed on July 2013, and will enter operation in fall 2015.
Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Polish state-owned investment vehicle Polskie Inwestycje Rozwojowe S.A. (PIR) on the execution of a preliminary investment memorandum with EDF Polska concerning the financing of a new gas-fired CHP plant in Torun, Poland.
The parties plan to create an SPV that will develop the approximately PLN 550 million project. PIR will provide PLN 275 million in financing under the Polish Investments programme.