International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has won Middle East Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) Deal of the Year 2009 at the Project Finance Magazine awards held on Thursday 4 March 2010. The firm secured the award for advising the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the Al Dur IWPP.
The deal was the first of its kind to close in challenging global market conditions, thanks to an innovative and complex financial structure. US$1.6 billion debt was lent as an eight-year mini-perm, structured to facilitate lending from banks. This was the first time an innovative hard mini-perm structure has been used to finance a Middle Eastern power project.
An initial 20-year power and water purchase agreement (PWPA) with the Electricity & Water Authority was extended to 25 years to improve the bankability of the project. This was first time the Government has agreed to a 25-year term for a PWPA in Bahrain.
Harnek Shoker, head of the Freshfields Bahrain office, commented: "We are delighted to have advised on such a landmark deal in the Middle East and on the Government's third major power transaction. This was a complex deal due to market conditions and the financing structure and strength of experience of the teams involved assisted in the project reaching financial close."
The Freshfields team was led by Harnek Shoker, head of the Bahrain office, senior associates William Breeze and William Coleman and associate Carlo Calabrese.
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is an integrated international law firm and operates from 27 offices in 15 countries, including all the main financial centres of the world. Our 2,700 plus lawyers provide unrivalled technical and commercial advice to the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments, helping them deal with their most challenging and complex business issues and transactions.
Freshfields in MENA:
Freshfields has offices in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (through their association with The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan) and in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai). The firm has approximately 40 lawyers working in the Middle East and has prominent finance, corporate, dispute resolution and real estate practices.
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Information contact:
Nicky Duncan,
Business Development,
T +971 4 5099 172,
E nicky.duncan@freshfields.com
© Press Release 2010
