Warsaw — August 29, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – The international law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP represented Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin SA (“PAK”) in the financing of a 460MW lignite-fired facility, Pątnów II.
The deal is the largest financing for a power plant in Poland over the past five years, and one of the biggest such deals for the entire CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region.
The financing was done on a 50/50 debt to equity ratio and was composed of the following loans:
226.5 million EUR credit facility provided by a consortium of banks EBRD, Export Development Canada (“EDC”), West LB and two Polish banks — Bank PEKAO SA and BRE BANK SA.
134 million PLN (EUR 33 million) credit for financing of the Value Added Tax provided by BANK PEKAO SA, WEST LB, BRE Bank SA and EDC
226 million PLN (EUR 55.7 million) loan provided by Polish National Environmental Protection Fund.
The financing is seen as a groundbreaking deal. It is structured to operate in the free electricity market environment once liberalization of the electricity market in Poland, required by the European Union, takes full effect.
Working on the deal for Chadbourne were Warsaw office partner Igor Muszyński and associates Karol Lasocki, Joanna Nowak, Martyna Kamińska-Tabaka and Agnieszka Piasecka, as well as London partner David Levin and associate Stefan Unna.
Construction of the Pątnów II power generating unit began in 2001 with the financing of US$392 million arranged by EBRD, West LB and Citibank. The construction of the plant was suspended in May 2002 due to early termination of the credit facility before the first disbursement due to reasons related to the EPC Contractor. Meanwhile, 40% of work had been completed.
After several months of negotiations new EPC Contractor — Canadian SNC Lavalin — was selected and new financing was recently signed.
About Chadbourne & Parke LLP
Chadbourne & Parke LLP, an international law firm headquartered in New York City, provides a full range of legal services, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, project finance, corporate finance, energy, telecommunications, commercial and products liability litigation, securities litigation and regulatory enforcement, white collar defense, intellectual property, antitrust, domestic and international tax, reinsurance and insurance, environmental, real estate, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, employment law and ERISA, trusts and estates and government contract matters. The Firm has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Houston, Moscow, Kyiv, Warsaw (through a Polish partnership), Almaty, Beijing and a multinational partnership, Chadbourne & Parke, in London. For additional information, visit www.chadbourne.com.
