White & Case Project Finance Deal Wins Three Deal of the Year Awards
April 2010, Project Finance, Project Finance International and LatinFinance

A project finance deal acted on by White & Case won Deal of the Year Awards from three publications: Project Finance, Project Finance International and LatinFinance. The Firm represented Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Société Générale as lead arrangers in the US$1.7 billion financing of Norbe VIII and Norbe IX financing of the drillships. Both drillships will be capable of drilling at water depths of up to 3,000 meters and are being constructed in Okpo Koje Island, South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., the obligations of which are secured by The Export-Import Bank of Korea performance guarantees. Upon completion, the drillships will be chartered under long-term charter contracts to Petróleo Brasilieiro SA-Petrobras. The drillships will be owned by the two Delaware-incorporated affiliates of Brazilian construction conglomerate Oderbrecht and operated by one of its oil and gas subsidiaries.

The transaction involved two export credit agencies and 14 lenders in Brazil, Korea, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, the United States and Europe. The Firm's work included structuring cross-guarantees and cross-collateralization for the financing and advising on charter, operating, and construction agreements for both vessels.

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