White & Case wins Latin America “Legal Adviser of the Year” and seven IJGlobal Americas “Deal of the Year” awards

IJGlobal has named global law firm White & Case LLP "Legal Adviser of the Year" in Latin America at the 2024 IJGlobal Americas Awards.

The Firm was also honored with the following seven "Deal of the Year" awards:

Latin America:

• Bond of the Year – Private Placement: PEC III – Chile

  White & Case advised a group of renewable power generators in Chile on the closing purchase and sale of the "PEC III" receivables facilities. The receivables entitle the generators to payments from the Fondo de Estabilización de Tarifas, which is a segregated fund established under Chilean law to stabilize the electricity tariff payable by regulated end-users, and which are partially guaranteed by the Chilean Treasury. The funds received by the generators will be used to operate and, in some cases, expand some of Chile's most important renewable power projects.

• Energy Transition Deal of the Year: BESS del Desierto – Chile

  White & Case advised Atlas Renewable Energy, an international renewable power company, on the development and financing of its first battery storage project. The project, known as "BESS del Desierto," is located in Chile and will have an installed capacity of 200 MWs at four hours and 800 MWh of aggregate storage capacity. This is one of Chile's first large-scale battery storage projects.

• Power to X Deal of the Year: Portocem Geração de Energia – Brazil

  White & Case advised Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social – BNDES, as the lead underwriter, and other financiers in connection with New York law-governed arrangements supporting the public offering of secured debentures in the amount of R$4.5 billion, by Portocem, a Brazilian subsidiary of New Fortress Energy's (NFE). The proceeds of the financing will be used for the implementation of UTE PORTOCEM I, a natural gas-fired simple cycle thermoelectric plant with approximately 1,572 MW of installed capacity, located in the municipality of Barcarena, State of Pará.

  The transaction represents a significant milestone for Brazilian project financing, standing as the largest debenture issuance for an LNG-to-power project in the history of the Brazilian capital markets.

• Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Republic of El Salvador debt-for-nature conversion

  White & Case advised the Republic of El Salvador on the world's largest debt-for-nature conversion for river conservation and the world's largest debt-for-nature conversion in terms of funding commitments for conservation.

  The conversion comprises El Salvador's issuance of US$1 billion 20-year impact notes to a special purpose vehicle, and the concurrent tender offer of a portion of its outstanding notes using the proceeds of the new impact notes. As a result, El Salvador was able to refinance more than US$1 billion of its outstanding notes and generate an expected US$352 million in lifetime savings through a combination of immediate notional debt savings and material reductions in debt service costs.

• Water Deal of the Year: Águas do Rio 1 and Águas do Rio 4 – Brazil

  White & Case advised Aegea Saneamento e Participações S.A. and Águas Do Rio on the R$1.5 billion (US$300 million) financing for an initiative to strengthen water and sanitation services in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. IDB Invest provided the financing, with a R$500 million (US$100 million) guarantee from French development finance institution Proparco.

Christian Hansen, partner and head of the Latin America Practice, said, "We are honored to be named Legal Adviser of the Year and receive five Deal of the Year awards. Guided by our strong commitment to client service, our team draws on extensive experience and cross-practice capabilities to deliver exceptional results. These awards underscore our market-leading role in shaping some of the region's most groundbreaking deals across multiple industries. Thank you to our clients and team for another great year."

North America:

• Transport Deal of the Year – Airports: JFK New Terminal 6/7

  White & Case advised a group of 13 commercial banks on the non-recourse senior secured financing of the US$4.2 billion redevelopment of Terminals 6 and 7 at JFK International Airport. The redevelopment is the final piece of the JFK Vision Plan to modernize the US's largest international gateway airport.

• Power to X Deal of the Year: Oxy STRATOS Facility

  White & Case advised Occidental on the development of STRATOS, the world's largest direct air capture (DAC) facility, in Ector County, Texas. Through a fund managed by its Diversified Infrastructure business, BlackRock signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture with Occidental through its subsidiary 1PointFive that will own STRATOS. BlackRock will invest US$550 million to develop STRATOS on behalf of its clients. STRATOS is expected to provide cost-effective solutions that companies in hard-to-decarbonize industries can use in conjunction with their own emissions reduction programs.