White & Case is one of the leading global law firms for project finance transactions. With more than 250 dedicated project finance lawyers located in offices around the globe, our Global Project Finance Practice offers market-leading experience advising on legal matters related to project structuring and development, financing, government regulation, construction and other contract issues across every sector, including:

• Power generation and transmission (including nuclear energy and all forms of renewable energy)
• Oil and gas (including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemicals)
• Infrastructure (including roads, airports, bridges, railways and ports)
• Mining and metals
• Water and wastewater treatment
• Telecommunications (including wireless, landline and satellites)

We represent clients including sponsors, commercial banks and governmental lenders, as well as multilateral and bilateral agencies, on every type of transaction from complex international co-financings to capital markets-based project financings to Islamic financings. Our lawyers have unrivaled insight into local business customs, labor practices and laws in multiple jurisdictions, enabling us to provide local depth to match our global breadth.

More Than Just Lawyers
With extensive experience bringing a wide range of projects to completion, we provide more than just legal counsel; we provide business and strategic advice, and we can structure, negotiate and document the full array of project and financing agreements to suit each client's specific needs. Our team can help identify market, revenue, production, political and other risks, propose methods to mitigate those risks and advise on ways to minimize or reduce liabilities.

Significant Global Footprint
Due to the deep experience of our project finance lawyers from around the world, we can provide New York, English, Islamic and local law advice and unparalleled insight into local markets to give our clients a competitive advantage, allowing them to benefit from knowing what only insiders typically know about business customs and conditions in local markets. Our project finance lawyers are located in: 

Independent View
Legal directories and the industry press consistently recognize our Global Project Finance Practice as a market leader. In the first half of 2011, White & Case ranked first among all law firms worldwide in the dollar value of project finance transactions closed globally, according to Dealogic. In 2010, White & Case ranked first among US-based law firms in the dollar value (US$39.5 billion) of project finance transactions closed globally, according to Infrastructure Journal. In addition, our Project Finance deals have won more than 45 "deal of the year" awards from the industry press from 2009 to 2011.

Recent accolades include:

• Band 1 Ranking For Projects (Global) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects & Energy (Africa) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects & Infrastructure (China) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects (Europe-wide: Central & Eastern Europe) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects (Latin America) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects (Mexico) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects & Energy: Mining & Minerals – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Energy & Natural Resources (Russia) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects: Power (United States) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects: PPP (United States) – Chambers Global, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Project Finance/PPP (South Africa) – Chambers Global, 2010
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects & Energy (Middle East) – Chambers Global, 2009
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects (Latin America) – Chambers Latin America, 2011
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects & Energy: Energy Projects (London) – Chambers UK, 2010
• Tier 1 Ranking for National: Project Finance Law – U.S. News – Best Lawyers, 2011-2012
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects: Power (National) – Chambers USA, 2010
• Band 1 Ranking for Projects: PPP (National) – Chambers USA, 2010
• Tier 1 Ranking for National: Energy Law – U.S. News – Best Lawyers, 2011-2012
• Tier 1 Ranking for US Project Finance – IFLR 1000, 2010
• Tier 1 Ranking in Project Finance: Advice to Sponsors – Legal 500 – United States, 2011
• Tier 1 Ranking in Projects, Energy & Natural Resources: Mining & Minerals – Legal 500 – United Kingdom, 2011
• Tier 1 Ranking in Projects Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas – Legal 500 – United Kingdom, 2011

Unparalleled Experience

Tours to Bordeaux High-Speed Railway — One of Europe's Most Important Infrastructure Investments in the Past 20 Years
Representation of the lenders to a consortium that was selected as the winning concessionaire for a €7.8 billion, 50-year concession to build and operate France's Sud Europe-Atlantique (LGV SEA) high-speed railway line. The project, which will connect Tours and Bordeaux through a 303-kilometer high-speed rail link, is the largest project finance deal to be awarded in the French railway sector and is the first contract concluded with a French state guarantee provided under the new French recovery plan. White & Case represented nine commercial banks, the European Investment Bank and the Caisse des dépôts et consignations. This deal was selected as "2011 Europe Rail Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine.

One Nevada Transmission Line — First US Department of Energy Loan Guarantee for a Transmission Project
Representation of Great Basin Transmission South, LLC in connection with the sale by Great Basin of a 25 percent undivided interest to NV Energy in the One Nevada Transmission Line (ON Line) and the development and financing of Great Basin's 75 percent undivided interest in ON Line pursuant to a US$343 million US Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee, which was the first DOE loan guarantee for a transmission project. ON Line is a new 235-mile, 500-kilovolt alternating current transmission line that will carry approximately 600 megawatts of electricity from northern Nevada to an area outside of Las Vegas in southern Nevada. ON Line is the first phase of a larger project called the Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP) that, when completed, will carry 2,000 megawatts of power generated from wind, solar and geothermal sources from remote areas in Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming to users in Las Vegas, California and across the Southwestern US. Great Basin is a special-purpose entity formed by LS Power Associates, a power generation and transmission company.

C-Power — Largest Offshore Wind Financing
Representation of the European Investment Bank on its €450 million financing for the design, construction and operation of the second and third phases of a 325 MW offshore wind farm being developed by C-Power N.V. in the North Sea, 30 kilometers off the coast of Belgium, with a total project cost of approximately €1 billion. The C-Power financing represents a number of firsts: it is one of the largest financings to be closed in the offshore energy sector (comprising a total debt package of €1 billion); it is one of the first transactions where banks have financed the installation and operation of new generation 6 MW offshore wind turbines; and it has one of the longest tenures of any financing concluded in the offshore wind sector to date. This deal was selected as "2010 European Offshore Wind Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine, as "2010 Europe Renewables Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine, and as "2010 Renewables Deal of the Year" by Infrastructure Journal.

Nord Stream Pipeline Project — One of the Largest Recent Project Financings
Representation of the joint venture project company, Nord Stream AG, and the sponsors on the construction and €7.4 billion financing of phase one and €2.5 billion financing of phase two of the development of two 1,220-kilometer subsea offshore gas pipelines which run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea and the exclusive economic zones of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. This deal was selected as "2009 European Gas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine, as one of the "Best Deals of 2009" by Global Trade Review magazine, as "2010 European Midstream Oil & Gas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine, and as "2010 Oil & Gas Deal of the Year" by Infrastructure Journal.

Rabigh Independent Power Project (IPP) — Groundbreaking Deal and Triple Award Winner
Representation of the commercial and export credit agency lenders in connection with the US$2.5 billion, 1,200 MW heavy fuel oil-fired independent power project to be built for Saudi Electric Company and sponsored by ACWA Power International and Korea Electric Power Corporation in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. This deal was selected as "2009 Middle Eastern Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine, as "2009 Middle East Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine, and as one of the "Groundbreakers of 2009" by Islamic Finance Asia magazine.

Guelb II Mine Project — Deal of the Year
Representation of Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM) of Mauritania in relation to the US$710 million multisourced financing (including Islamic finance, as well as export credit agency and development bank financing) for the expansion of the Guelb II mine and the construction of a new ore carrier port in Nouadhibou, Mauritania. This transaction was named as one of the "2009 Deals of the Year" by Trade Finance magazine.

Odebrecht Norbe VIII and Norbe IX Bank Financing — Triple Award-Winning Oil and Gas Drillship Project
Representation of Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Société Générale, as lead arrangers, in the financing of the US$1.7 billion Odebrecht Norbe VIII and IX offshore oil drillships. This deal was selected as "2009 Latin American Upstream Oil & Gas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine, as "2009 Americas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine and as "2010 Best Project Finance Deal" by LatinFinance magazine.

Sakhalin (Phase 2) LNG — Financing of World's Largest Oil and Gas Project
Representation of Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the commercial lenders as common lenders' counsel on the Phase 2 financing of the US$20 billion Sakhalin 2 LNG project in the Russian Far East. The project is the world's largest oil and gas project to have limited recourse project financing and Russia's largest-ever foreign investment and project financing.

EASSy Undersea Cable — Telecom Interconnectivity for 21 African Countries
Representation of five development financial institutions – International Finance Corporation, European Investment Bank, KfW, Agence Française de Développement and African Development Bank – in connection with financing for the EASSy undersea telecom cable project, a landmark fiber-optic cable project that will connect 21 African countries to each other and the rest of the world with high-quality Internet and international communications services.

LBJ Freeway Managed Lanes Project in Texas — Usage of Private Activity Bonds
Representation of LBJ Infrastructure Group LLC (a consortium consisting of Cintra Infraestructuras, S.A., Meridiam Infrastructure Finance S.à.r.l., and the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System) in connection with a US$615 million offering by a conduit issuer of tax-exempt private activity bonds and the closing of a US$850 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan from the US Department of Transportation. The funds will be used to finance 17 miles of improvements for the LBJ Freeway (IH-635) Managed Lanes Project, a public-private partnership project in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. This transaction was selected as "2010 North America Project Bond Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine.

Qatargas 4 LNG — Latest Project in a Pioneering Series
Representation of the project sponsors, Qatar Petroleum and Shell, on the arranging and financing of the US$6 billion Qatargas 4 project which involves the integrated development of upstream gas production facilities, one large LNG train and the shipping of the LNG to the intended markets in North America and Europe. Qatargas 4 is the latest project in the US$21.3 billion Qatargas series, the largest-ever energy project financing. White & Case has advised on every one of the financings. The groundbreaking Qatargas series is arguably the most innovative set of major project financing transactions in recent years, representing the first time sponsors have financed the whole LNG chain from the upstream development of the gas field through LNG shipment to delivery of gas into a transmission system. Qatargas 4 won Project Finance magazine's "2007 Middle East Oil & Gas Deal of the Year" award.

EMAL — US$4.7 Billion Financing for World's Largest Aluminum Smelter
Representation of the lead arrangers on the US$4.7 billion financing for the construction of the world's largest aluminum smelter by EMAL, to be located in Abu Dhabi. EMAL is a joint venture between Mubadala Development Co., an investment arm of Abu Dhabi's government, and state-owned Dubai Aluminium Co. This project was awarded "2007 Middle East Manufacturing Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine and "2007 Industrial Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International magazine. We also advised on the subsequent US$737 million export credit agency financing in 2010.

Fujian Refining Petrochemical Company — US$4 Billion Financing for Largest World-Class Refining and Chemicals Complex in China
Representation of Saudi Arabian Oil Company and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited in connection with the approximately US$4 billion funding to Fujian Refining Petrochemical Company Limited. The financing will be used to expand the existing refinery in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China and also involves construction of a new 800,000 tons-per-year ethylene steam cracker, an 800,000 ton-per-year polyethylene unit, a 400,000 ton-per-year polypropylene unit and a new 700,000 ton-per-year paraxylene unit. The project will be the largest world-class integrated refining and chemicals complex in China and represents the largest-ever project financing for a Sino-foreign joint venture in China.