The increasing presence of Clifford Chance in US project finance transactions has propelled the firm into this year's rankings. "There's a firm that got active recently," says one rival....
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The increasing presence of Clifford Chance in US project finance transactions has propelled the firm into this year's rankings. "There's a firm that got active recently," says one rival. "They are definitely a player."
In a deal which was signed in March 2010, the firm advised AEI as sponsor of a 300 MW coal-fired development in Guatemala and the corresponding $350 million financing provided by Central American Bank for Economic Integration, Bancolombia and several other Latin American banks. Complications included the lack of liquidity in the Latin American market at the time, and the high degree of political instability. The deal was the largest-ever foreign investment in Guatemala and the first major non-recourse project in Central America to be almost exclusively financed by Latin American banks.
The firm also recently represented IDB and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation as senior lenders for a $1.4 billion upgrade to the São Paulo ring road. Financing for the scheme, known as the Rodoanel Mario Covas Trecho Oeste Upgrade project, was closed in December 2009. Once completed, the project will increase network capacity, reducing travel time and carbon emissions. The firm's clients, along with three commercial banks, provided $940 million in loans to finance the concession and public works of Rodoanel Oeste.
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