Elena Millerman

Partner, New York

Biography

Elena Maria Millerman is a go-to lawyer in the energy infrastructure space, with particular strengths advising clients on structured finance transactions. Interviewees highlight: “She is practical, commercial and good at both identifying issues and finding reasonable resolutions to knock them over one by one.”
Chambers Global & USA 2021

Overview

Elena Millerman is the global head of the Firm's Project Development and Finance Group. Elena enjoys an outstanding reputation in the market thanks to her expert handling of a variety of sophisticated, high-profile project financings in the Americas and internationally, notably across the power, oil & gas and infrastructure sectors. Elena’s cutting-edge approach to deal structure enables her to develop innovative solutions to help clients achieve their business objectives.

Elena combines a keen understanding of the commercial arrangements that underpin energy and infrastructure projects with a sophisticated knowledge of term loan B, mezzanine and hybrid finance structures. She also has extensive experience on acquisition financings, project bonds/private placements and other debt-structured products as well as equity financings.

Elena has worked on multiple award-winning, first-of-their-kind transactions, including the Meerwind offshore wind and Panda Power Funds projects. Recent acclaim for Elena in the industry press includes being awarded Global Leader status for Project Finance in Who's Who Legal 2021, being added to the Roll Call of Elite for Project Finance in Euromoney's Best of the Best USA Expert Guide 2021, and being named among IFLR1000's 2021 Women Leaders for Project Finance and Asset Finance in the United States.

Bars and Courts
New York State Bar
Education
JD
University of California, Berkeley
Boalt Hall School of Law
BA
University of California, Los Angeles
Languages
English
Spanish

Experience

Representation of Beal Bank as sole lender in a US$250 million senior secured term loan to U.S. Well Services, a leader in electric hydraulic fracturing services and technology. The term loan provides U.S. Well Services with permanent financing and the ability to fund growth initiatives in the growing market demand for electric-powered hydraulic fracturing services.

Representation of GenOn, Heritage Power and its subsidiaries in connection with the US$520 million term loan B financing of Heritage Power, a 2,240 MW portfolio of 16 power generation assets in the PJM Interconnection. In addition to the term loan B, the financing included a total of nearly US$100 million in revolver and letter of credit facilities to support Heritage Power.

Representation of Carlyle as sponsor in a US$570 million loan package for the acquisition by its affiliate Revere power of a 1,100 MW portfolio of three combined-cycle gas fired facilities in New England from Emera. The financing consisted of a term loan B, term loan C and revolver.

Representation of the lead arranger in a US$350 million secured bridge loan facility to EPIC, an affiliate of Ares Management. The proceeds will be used for the development and financing of the EPIC Crude Pipeline, a greenfield crude oil pipeline project linking the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Basin to Corpus Christi, Texas.

Representation of Beal Bank as lender and its affiliate CLMG as agent in negotiating and documenting the restructuring of over US$600 million in liabilities and providing DIP and exit financing in connection with the prepackaged Chapter 11 case of Talen Energy's power portfolio, MACH Gen.

Representation of Macquarie as arranger in a US$425 senior secured debt package to finance the acquisition by Ares EIF of Paradigm Energy Partners' midstream gathering systems from an affiliate of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The acquisition consists of two oil and natural gas gathering systems in North Dakota and a third in South Texas, along with joint venture interests in the Sacagawea Pipeline Company and various logistics assets in North Dakota.

Representation of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as lead arrangers in a US$440 senior secured credit package to finance the acquisition by Platinum Equity of the 810 MW Hunterstown combined-cycle gas-fired power plant from GenOn. Hunterstown is located in Pennsylvania along the PJM Interconnection. The financing consisted of a term loan B, an incremental term loan and a revolving facility.

Representation of Global Infrastructure Partners in connection with a US$725 million term loan B to finance its acquisition of Medallion Gathering & Processing, the largest, privately held crude oil transportation system in the Midland Basin of West Texas.

Representation of Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase as lead arrangers in a US$1.285 billion senior secured term loan to Traverse Midstream Partners, a pipeline investor with a portfolio of non-operated midstream assets, including the 715-mile Rover Pipeline and the 52-mile Ohio River System pipeline that both harness natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Representation of an international syndicate of noteholders, lenders and institutional investors (after initially representing the lead placement agent and sole structuring agent) in an approximately €1 billion multi-currency, multi-tranched refinancing of the 288 MW Meerwind offshore wind farm, operated by WindMW and controlled by Blackstone and the first fully operational privately-financed offshore wind in Germany. The complex refinancing was the first placement of senior secured green bonds for an operational German offshore wind farm and one of the largest issuances of green bonds in recent years. The deal was awarded "Green Bond of the Year" by Environmental Finance 2016.

Representation of Goldman Sachs, Investec and ICBC as joint lead arrangers in the approximately US$900 million hybrid-term loan A and term loan B funding for the construction, operation and maintenance of an approximately 1,124 MW 3x1 combined cycle natural gas-fired electric generating unit to be constructed in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. The deal was selected as "North American Merchant Power Award" by IJGlobal 2015.

Awards and Recognition

Roll Call of Elite: Project Finance
Euromoney Best of the Best USA Expert Guide 2021 

Global Leader: Project Finance
Who's Who Legal 2023

Leader in Project Finance in the United States
Leader in Asset Finance in the United States
IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2021

Leading Practitioner: Project Finance
Leading Practitioner: Women in Business Law 
Leading Practitioner: Banking, Finance and Transactional
Euromoney Legal Media Group Expert Guides 2022

Band 3 - Projects - USA - Nationwide
Chambers USA 2023

Band 3 - Projects - USA
Chambers Global 2023