Paul Hastings Advises on Two 2021 IJGlobal Awards

New York – Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that the firm advised on two transactions that won “deal of the year” awards at the 2021 IJGlobal Awards for the following categories:

Petrochemicals Deal of the Year: Braskem Idesa Refinancing

Paul Hastings advised Braskem Idesa, the largest polyethylene producer in Mexico and a subsidiary of Braskem S.A., one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, in connection with its oversubscribed offering of sustainability-linked US$1.2 billion 6.99% senior notes due 2032, which closed October 20, 2021. The bonds are tied to Braskem Idesa’s goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by the end of 2028. The proceeds from these bonds, along with a $150 million term loan facility, allowed Braskem Idesa to fully prepay its remaining $1.35 billion in project finance loans incurred to construct Braskem Idesa’s Etileno XXI petrochemical complex in Nanchital, Veracruz, Mexico.

Negotiated during a changing regulatory environment in Mexico, this refinancing was a condition to the effectiveness of Braskem Idesa’s heavily negotiated ethane supply contract with its current primary feedstock supplier, Pemex, and an additional agreement permitting Braskem Idesa to separately invest in an ethane import terminal to serve its own supply needs and potentially those of the rest of Mexico’s polyethylene industry. By prepaying in full its project finance debt, Braskem Idesa was able to benefit from a more flexible covenant package that permitted investment in a new ethane import terminal and potential expansions of other solutions for the import of ethane to the complex to source its ethane requirements.

Power Deal of the Year: Project Gatun

Paul Hastings represented Natixis and SMBC as coordinated lead arrangers, and other lenders (which involved a syndicate of twelve banks - Bank of China, ICBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, Sabadell, Scotiabank, and Societe Generale joined the transaction, as well as some local lenders including Banco Aliado, Banco Nacional, Caja de Ahorro, and Mega ICBC Bank) in the US$740 million senior financing of an approximately 670 megawatt combined cycle gas-to-power project that involved the development and construction of a natural gas-fired power plant, together with all interconnections and certain associated infrastructure, including two transmission lines, and involved diligence on and coordination with a separately funded expansion of AES’s LNG receiving terminal and natural gas pipeline to power station,  on Telfers Island, Panama, with AES Panama and InterEnergy as Sponsors.  The Project has three 20-year PPAs with Panamanian distribution companies Distco’s and an LNG fuel supply agreement with Total. The project adds significant baseload generation to Panama’s generation sector.

This financing closed simultaneously with the GIP HoldCo financing, on which our Paul Hastings team also worked, bringing over $1 billion in capital funding to the Panama’s energy sector.  These deals represent a transformative step forward for Panamanian energy stability

These awards follow additional recent recognition for the firm’s Latin America practice, including:

• The firm was ranked in Legal500’s Latin America guide in Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Corporate and M&A, and Projects and Energy.
• The firm advised on two transactions that were honored at the 2021 LatinFinance Deal of the Year Awards:
  • Sovereign Bond of the Year: Republic of Peru
  • Sustainable Borrower of the Year: Suzano S.A.
• The firm advised on three transactions that were honored at the 2021 LatinFinance Project and Infrastructure Awards:
  • Airport Financing of the Year: The Lima Airport Expansion Financing
  • Infrastructure Financing of the Year: EnfraGen’s US$1.76 Billion Financing
  • Local Currency Financing of the Year: Puerta de Hierro’s Social Bond
• The Energy & Infrastructure Team was again named a “Band 1” team for LatAm by Chambers.
• The refinancing transactions for EnfraGen and Lima Airport Partners were also recognized as “deals of the year” for 2020 by IJGlobal’s Awards.
• Latin Lawyer recognized the EnfraGen Refinancing as “Project Finance Deal of the Year” for 2020.
• Paul Hastings was ranked by Latinvex in the top 3 international law firms operating in Latin America, and Arturo Carrillo, Michael Fitzgerald, Joy Gallup, Robert Kartheiser, and Cathleen McLaughlin were recognized by Latinvex among Latin America's Top 100 Lawyers of 2021.

Dedicated to helping the world’s leading Wall Street and global investment banks, asset managers and corporations achieve their business and legal goals, Paul Hastings is a premier global finance law firm with elite teams in finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and litigation. We are one of only a handful of law firms ranked across multiple core finance areas including: structured credit, leveraged finance, private credit, capital markets and real estate finance.

Our unmatched client service has helped us become one of the legal profession’s most admired firms, known for a diverse and highly collaborative culture that delivers innovative solutions.