Latham & Watkins LLP1 said that its project development and finance team have advised on four of the largest project financings to close in the region this year. Three of the transactions have closed within the past four weeks. These include:
Nanahi Petrochemicals Complex (China)
Latham represented the commercial lenders in one of the largest Sino-foreign projects in PRC history, with a total investment of US$4.3 billion. On the project financing of the greenfield Nanhai Petrochemicals Complex in Guangdong Province, China, the commercial lenders included PRC banks and international banks:
• China Development Bank
• The Bank of China
• Industrial Commercial Bank of China
• China Everbright Bank
• China Merchants Bank
• China Construction Bank
• Agricultural Bank of China
• Australian and New Zealand Banking Group, Ltd.
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.
• Crédit Agricole Indosuez
• Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
• The Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
• IntesaBci S.p.A.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
• WestLB AG
The financing closed on August 1.
Tanjung Jati B (Indonesia)
Latham represented Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as lead arranger and 12 other commercial lenders in the ¥180 billion (US$1.5 billion) financing of the 2 x 660 MW, coal-fired Tanjung Jati B power plant in Central Java. JBIC and the commercial lenders provided the loans, of which ¥150 billion (US$1.25 billion) was provided in the form of a JBIC Buyer’s Credit facility. NEXI provided extended political risk insurance. The Ministry of Finance of Indonesia provided a liquidity facility as credit support for the lease obligations of PLN, the Indonesian utility that will lease the power plant in a 20-year lease agreement. The borrower, PT Central Java Power, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation.
The Tanjung Jati B project is the first large Indonesian power project to reach financial close since the Asian currency crisis. Construction on the project had been stalled since 1997. The project received strong support from the governments of both Indonesia and Japan, and it is hoped the plant will alleviate projected power shortages for the island of Java. The financing closed on July 31.
BLCP Power Project (Thailand)
Latham represented the Asian Development Bank, WestLB, ANZ, BNP Paribas, KBC, SMBC, Bangkok Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Krung Thai Bank, Siam City Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Thai Military Bank and The Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand, as lenders in the US$1.34 billion financing of the BLCP Power Project, a 1,434 MW, coal-fired power project in Map Ta Phut industrial estate, Rayong Province, Thailand. The sponsors are CLP Powergen Southeast Asia Limited and Banpu Coal Power Limited. The financing closed on August 15.
The financing plan contemplates a second-phase closing, expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2003, when JBIC and NEXI will join as participants in the financing.
BLCP is the largest power project financing to be completed in Thailand. Its closing marks the sixth major power project financing that Latham has completed successfully in Thailand since 1998. Previous projects are the Tri Energy, Eastern Power, Ratchaburi, Houay Ho and Theun Hinboun power projects (the last two of which are hydroelectric power facilities constructed in Laos that deliver power to Thailand).
Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (Japan)
Latham & Watkins LLP represented Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd. in connection with one of the largest telecommunications financings in Asia, ¥140 billion (approx. US$1.2 billion). Jupiter is the largest multi-service provider of cable television, broadband Internet and telephony services in Japan. This matter involved principal credit documents governed by English law and project and security documents governed by Japanese law.
