King & Wood Mallesons has advised an international syndicate of 15 international lenders in connection with the successful sale of Griffin Power and Griffin Power 2, owners and operators of the Bluewaters power stations in Western Australia to Sumitomo Corporation and The Kansai Electric Power Company Inc. King & Wood Mallesons worked with Ferrier Hodgson to assist the syndicate.
The syndicate included senior lenders, mezzanine lenders and hedge counterparties to the power stations and King & Wood Mallesons has been advising them following the insolvency of Griffin Power’s parent companies in December 2009, firstly in respect of the sale of Griffin Coal by Griffin Energy Group to new Indian owners, Lanco Resources, and secondly in respect of the sale of Griffin Power to Sumitomo and Kansai.
The King & Wood Mallesons team, led by Partner Jeff Clark and Jessica Chilton and assisted by a number of members of the King & Wood Mallesons’ Melbourne and Perth restructuring, tax, energy and property teams, advised on the restructuring of the finance arrangements, including a reduction of debt, as well as the restructuring and securing of the power stations’ coal supply arrangements with Griffin Coal. Successfully meeting the requirements of the broad and diverse lending group as well as those of the other parties involved in the transaction added complexity to the deal. In addition, the interests of the Western Australian electricity market and consumers were a foremost consideration in obtaining the consent of the Western Australian Premier in respect of Griffin Coal’s role in the transaction.
This was a significant and multifaceted transaction spanning over three years. Preventing the insolvency of the Bluewaters power stations following the insolvency of the parent companies was a paramount objective of the lending syndicate. This combined with the issues facing coal supply to the power stations, revising the power purchase agreements and obtaining the approval of the Western Australian government led to a complex transaction.
King & Wood Mallesons look forward to continuing to work with the lenders in this new phase for the Bluewaters power stations with the welcome addition of Sumitomo and Kansai as owners of the Bluewaters power stations.
Related Posts:
- None Found