White & Case LLP - Lawyers - Victor J. DeSantis

Practice Experience

Mr. DeSantis concentrates in international, multi-lender project finance and cross-border corporate transactions. He has extensive experience in representing sponsors, multilateral and commercial lenders and export credit agencies on enterprises financed on a project basis.

This experience has included:

Representing ABN AMRO Bank N.V. as lead arranger for a syndicate of banks in the financing of the Odebrecht Norbe VI offshore oil drilling platform, to be chartered to Petrobras;
Representing International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Investment Bank, African Development Bank, KfW and Agence Française de Développement in the financing of the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), a landmark fiber-optic cable project that is to connect 21 African countries to each other and the rest of the world with high-quality Internet and international communications services;
Advising an international consortium led by Empresas ICA Sociedad Controladora, S.A. de C.V., in the financing of the two-unit 750 MW El Cajón hydroelectric generating facility in the state of Nayarit, Mexico (named "2005 Latin America Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International);
Representing Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the financing of the Campos Novos 880 MW hydroelectric project located on the Canoas River, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil (named "2005 Latin American Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine);
Representing IFC, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Finnfund, PROPARCO and Swedfund in a long-term debt facility made available to Celtel International B.V. for expansion and acquisition activities in cellular telecommunications in sub-Saharan Africa;
Representing Barclays Capital, Credit Lyonnais, Société Générale and IFC in the US$680 million financing of the EDFI Suez Gulf and Port Said power projects in Egypt;
Representing the sponsors in connection with the financing of a gold mining project in Uzbekistan;
Representing Deutsche Bank, Société Générale and IFC in the EDFI Rio Bravo and Saltillo power project financings in Mexico;
Advising the bank lenders in the Aredor diamond mine in Guinea;
Representing IDB in the financing of the 484 MW Termobahia gas-fired cogeneration plant in Brazil (named "2001 Latin America Private Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance magazine);
Advising the bank arranger in the Kutubu oil pipeline project in Papua New Guinea;
Representing Société Générale, IFC and Commonwealth Development Corporation in the ABB Azito power project in Côte d'Ivoire;
Assisting Credit Lyonnais in the COMSIGUA hot briquetted iron facility financing in Venezuela sponsored by Kobe Steel;
Advising IFC in the US$292 million financing of the Kladno power project in the Czech Republic sponsored by NRG and El Paso;
Representing the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in the financing of a fishing fleet operating in the Sea of Okhotsk;
Representing IFC, the Export Credits Guarantee Department, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Agricole, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and other lenders in the financing for the US$1.4 billion Sual power project in the Philippines sponsored by Consolidated Electric Power Asia Limited;
Advising IFC, Société Générale and OPIC in connection with the Macaé 895 MW gas-fired power plant in Brazil; and
Representing the lenders in the financing of the US$933 million Hopewell Pagbilao project financing of a 700 MW coal fired power plant in the Philippines.

Mr. DeSantis has also been involved in numerous cross-border financings, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He assisted in representing Saudi Arabian Oil Company in a US$2.5 billion joint venture with Texaco and counseled the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in workout negotiations in the Continental Airlines and Western Union bankruptcies.

Since 2002, Mr. DeSantis has consistently received top rankings in Chambers, globally, nationally and in Washington, DC.

Bars and Courts
District of Columbia Bar, 1987
New York State Bar, 1986

Education
JD, Harvard Law School, 1985
BA, Yale University, magna cum laude, 1982

Awards and Recognition
Chambers Global, Project Finance
Chambers USA, Projects (National, DC)
Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Project Finance Lawyers
Legal 500 USA, Project Finance
IFLR 1000, Project Finance
PLC Which Lawyer?, Project Finance
The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers
The Best Lawyers in America

Languages
English

Citizenship
United States