© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate – (December 2) – Houston-based Freeport LNG and Osaka Gas and Chubu Electric have closed a $4.4 billion lend for the project they are sponsoring to build Train 1 of a multi-train natural gas liquefaction and export facilities project on the Gulf Coast Quintana Island region.
Hunton & Williams represented the group of commercial banks that provided the financing for the project. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) led the financing with a 70 percent contribution. The banks that provided the remaining 30 percent of the financing (via Nippon Export and Investment Insurance) were: Mizuho Bank, Ltd.; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.; Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited; Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation; and ING Bank N.V.
The Hunton team primarily came from New York, Richmond, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., but real estate partner Howard Schreiber and bankruptcy partner Greg Hesse from the firm’s Dallas office were also involved in the deal.
New York-based White & Case and San Francisco-based Morrison & Foerster represented Freeport and Osaka, respectively.
Train 1 will be part of a three-train LNG production and export terminal facility, which is an expansion of Freeport LNG’s existing LNG import terminal and regasification facility. It is designed to provide an LNG export capacity of approximately 12.3 mmtpa (million metric tons per annum).
The project is expected to add long-term support to the U.S. shale and other natural gas-producing regions, including Texas and the Gulf Coast, as well as benefits for Texas’s employment and economic growth.
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