Patrick Blake | Associate | White & Case LLP

Associate, Houston

+1 832 786 6148

Biography

Overview

Patrick Blake is an associate in the Project Development & Finance practice in the Houston office of White & Case. He advises ﬁnancial institutions and companies on matters related to the construction, ﬁnancing, and operation of traditional and renewable energy projects. He also works with developers and contractors specializing in design-build projects.

Prior to practicing law, Patrick began his career as a construction project engineer building fast-track, largescale hospitality and gaming projects. He then moved to Guangzhou, China to work as the director of operations for an architectural materials ﬁrm. He also spent time as a consultant for ﬁnancial institutions focused on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) risks.

Bars and Courts

Texas State Bar

California State Bar

Education

Juris Doctor

University of California, Berkeley

School of Law

Master of Business Administration

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Bachelor of Science

Civil Engineering

University of Arizona

Languages

English

Spanish

Experience

Representation of Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in its $17.3 billion buyout of Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The buyout formed Caesars Entertainment, Inc., the largest casino and entertainment company in the US. This first-of-its-kind acquisition financing structure involved eight separate tranches of debt at separate levels of the ownership structure and sale-leaseback financings of approximately half of the combined company's assets.

Lender-side Representation in the first flood management project in North America delivered as a public-private partnership. The debt was issued as green bonds, green loans and green notes making the ﬁnancing unique for the North American infrastructure market. The facilities include representation of the underwriters of $273 million of tax-exempt private activity bonds, the lenders on a $642 million revolving credit facility and the related interest rate swap providers, and the note purchasers of $197 million of privately placed secured notes. The proceeds being used by Red River Valley Alliance, LLC to fund the costs incurred to design, construct, ﬁnance, operate and maintain the Diversion Channel and Associated Infrastructure Work Package of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project.

Representation of a middle-east sovereign fund in the design, construction and buildout of US facilities.

Representation of lenders in multiple project financings of 100MW+ in the US.

Representation of lenders in project financings of battery storage facilities.