Excelerate Energy Inc. announced on Thursday that it had entered an agreement with New Fortress Energy, a New York-based energy infrastructure company, to acquire its Jamaican assets and operations for $1.055 billion.
The assets that The Woodlands-based LNG company will acquire in the deal are New Fortress Energy’s Montego Bay LNG Terminal, its Old Harbour LNG Terminal, and its 150 MW Clarendon heat and power co-generation plant, with Excelerate assuming all the material contracts currently in place for the facilities.
Lawyers from Gibson Dunn, Vinson & Elkins and Simpson Thacher are advising on the deal.
“This transaction represents an important milestone in the execution of Excelerate’s downstream growth strategy. It will expand and diversify our platform while positioning Excelerate as the key provider of essential LNG import infrastructure in a desirable and growing Atlantic basin natural gas market,” Steven Kobos, President and CEO of Excelerate, said in a news release.
Excelerate plans to fund the acquisition using permanent financing and cash on hand and has also received a fully committed bridge facility worth $850 million.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, and when it does, it is expected to be immediately accretive to its EPS and enhance its operating cash flow.
“This transaction also enhances our financial profile, providing predictable, long-term cash flows at stable margins with a weighted average remaining contract duration of approximately 21 years, including contract extensions. We are confident the addition of this Jamaica platform will deliver significant value for our shareholders,” Kobos added.
Excelerate Energy’s Houston-based EVP and GC, Alisa Newman Hood, worked alongside Gibson Dunn, which served as Excelerate Energy’s legal advisor for the transaction. Andrew Kaplan (New York) and Maxwell Ball (New York) led the deal.
Gibson Dunn’s Texas lawyers who contributed to the deal included Harrison Tucker (Houston), Michael Cannon (Dallas/Houston) and Krista Hanvey (Dallas). The rest of the team was based in New York, including Andrew Fabens, Jin Hee Kim and Yair Galil.
Evercore is serving as Excelerate Energy’s financial advisor in the transaction, with Barclays Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DNB Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Nordea Bank’s New York Branch providing the bridge financing.
Of the financial institutions contributing to the committed financing, Barclays is leading the group and is using Simpson Thacher as its legal advisor.
The Simpson Thacher team advising Barclays on the transaction included Texas-based partners Erland Modesto (Houston) and Brandon Barton (Houston) and New York-based partners David Azarkh (New York) and Hui Lin (New York).
Vinson & Elkins is serving as New Fortress Energy’s sole legal advisor on the deal. The team is led by Francisco Morales Barrón (New York), Mark Brasher (Houston) and Alex Turner (Dallas).
The other Texas V&E lawyers who contributed to the deal included Bennett Robinson (Dallas), Natan Leyva (Dallas), Jeff Slusher (Dallas), Kathryn Fish (Dallas), Nicole Waterstradt (Dallas), Rebecca Baker (Houston), Ashley Plunk (Houston), Rajesh Patel (Houston), Alexa Chally (Austin), Sarah Mitchell (Dallas), Victoria Bahrami-Negad (Dallas) and Leah Powers (Dallas).
The rest of the V&E team who advised on the deal included Jake Silver (Washington, D.C.), Christine Croasdaile (New York), Tzvi Werzberger (New York), Kim Dalrymple (Dublin/London), Hayley Johnson (New York), Patricia Adams (New York), Eric Hechler (New York), George Casey Hopkins (Washington, D.C.), Thomas Aird (Washington, D.C.), Kara Kuritz (Washington, D.C.), Adam Thomas (Washington, D.C.), Brian Howard (Washington, D.C.) and Elizabeth Krabill McIntyre (Washington, D.C.).
Intrepid Financial Partners served as New Fortress Energy’s sole financial advisor on the deal.
New Fortress Energy intends to use the transaction proceeds to reduce its corporate debt and for other general corporate purposes.