Freeport LNG financing project wins PFI award

The energy-financing deal, for which Hunton & Williams served as transaction counsel to a coalition of lenders, has won Project Finance International’s Deal of the Year-Americas.

Hunton & Williams team represented Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, and a group of commercial banks on a $4.37 billion senior secured project debt finance, letter of credit and working capital facilities to finance the construction and operation of Train 1 of a multi-train natural gas liquefaction and export facility to be located near Freeport, Texas.

The Train 1 and Train 2 debt and equity financing transactions closed and funded concurrently on November 25. The transactions represent the largest fully non-recourse project financing in history.

JBIC is contributing 70 percent of the Train 1 project debt financing, with the remaining 30 percent of project debt financing being provided under NEXI insurance cover by Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, and ING Bank N.V.

The proposed three-train LNG production and export terminal facilities, which are an expansion of Freeport LNG’s existing LNG import terminal and regasification facility, are designed to provide an LNG export capacity of approximately 13.2 mmtpa.

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Press Release; Image: Freeport LNG