Energy Mergers & Acquisitions
Troutman Sanders’ track record for providing innovative infrastructure development and finance solutions is rooted in its longstanding counsel to many parties in the electric power industry. Out of this practice we became actively involved in the growth of the independent power industry in the early 1980s. Building on these early experiences, Troutman Sanders has developed a dynamic, worldwide project development and finance practice.
We have helped clients raise more than $25 billion in non-recourse and limited recourse project and acquisition debt – in addition to corporate-style debt and equity financings. Just over the past several years, we have assisted clients in the development, acquisition and financing of more than 400 electric power stations world-wide.
Troutman attorneys have experience across a wide range of transactions and ownership structures, including:
- Joint development arrangements;
- Generating facility undivided interests;
- Joint ownership arrangements (e.g., in which the joint ventures own shares in a project company, which in turn owns the generating facility);
- Holding company structures with shareholder, joint venture or limited liability company agreements among the owners;
- Traditional joint ventures;
- Partnerships and limited partnerships; and
- Joint tenancies and tenancies in common.
Troutman Sanders has acted as corporate and regulatory counsel on numerous mergers, acquisitions, and asset transactions in the energy industry, including:
- PNM Resources’ joint venture with Bill Gates and Cascade Investment LLC.
- PNM Resources’ acquisition of TNP Enterprises, Inc.
- Sale of International Transmission Company to KKR.
- Sale of SEMCO Energy to Cap Rock Holdings.
- Ameren’s purchase of Illinois Power’s T&D assets.
- Representation of an underwriter regarding transmission company IPO.
- Sale of the Clinton Nuclear Generating Station.
- Purchase of generating assets by Mirant in New York, California, PJM and New England.
- Financing of an $875 million, 1200 MW gas-powered CCGT Plant for the supply of electricity and steam to BP Chemicals in Hull, England.
- 140 MW IPP combined cycle power plant for the City of Moscow, Russia.
- Proposal to acquire an interest in the 1,024 MW Kot Addu energy complex in Punjab Province that was privatized by the Government of Pakistan.
- $2.75 billion acquisition of an 80 percent interest in Consolidated Electric Power Asia Limited (CEPA), located in China, at the time the largest independent power producer in Asia.
- Development and construction of a 166 MW coal-fired generating facility, a 162 MW coal-fired generating facility, and a 240 MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired electricity generation facility, near Mejillones, Chile.
In addition, Troutman Sanders attorneys offer a variety of tools to assist financial institutions in deciphering the energy industry and regulatory landscape. For example, we advised a large hedge fund in relation to a proposed merger of major utility companies. We were hired to analyze the deal, incorporate our industry expertise and knowledge of the regulatory environment into a functioning financial tool. After creating a proprietary analytical framework that calculated value, risk, and the statistical likelihood of the merger being completed, our attorneys successfully identified many of the subsequent events and the final outcome.