The firm helped close project financing for two gas-fired power plants
Squire Patton Boggs’ (SPB) work for RATCH-Australia has earned it praise from the power company.
The international firm acted for RATCH-Australia in the project financing of the Kemerton and Townsville gas-powered power station, which closed earlier this month.
“We are delighted that despite the complexity of the financing and the compressed timetable things fell into place and the transaction closed on schedule,” said Polagorn Kheosiplard, RATCH-Australia CFO.
“This financing is a critical component of our future plans in Australia. It will unleash our investment and development capacity in Australia. We commend the Squire Patton Boggs team for their dedication and sterling service which helped overcome many challenges that might at times have appeared to be insurmountable,” he said.
SPB said that the project financing featured elements not seen before in the Australian market. The financing attracted major interest from international and Australian banks, with the final syndicate featuring Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Standard Charter Bank, ING, OCBC, and ANZ.
The financiers were advised by King & Wood Mallesons (KWM).
“Hai Dang and his team at Squire put in a huge effort to help us complete this financing. We could not have done so in the time available without them,” said Simon Greenacre, RATCH-Australia general counsel.
“The complexity of the transaction – with a combination of a hybrid financing structure, existing and new security, a corporate restructure, minority shareholder buyout and a comparatively large lending syndicate – and the short time available to complete it required both expertise breadth and resourcing depth. Under Hai Dang’s leadership and strong commitment to closing the deal, the Squire team was able to deliver both,” Greenacre said.
Nguyen led the SPB team, which included Stuart Stevens, Clive Lee, Sam Smart, Fiona Ellett, Greg de Mesquita, Kevin Lee, Chris Steenson, and David Kim.
The KWM team was led by partner Mark Upfold. It included associate Emily Andrews and solicitors Meadhbh Cacciaguidi-Fahy and Jahan Navidi.
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