White & Case advises ENERGO-PRO on €750 million inaugural international green bond issuance

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised ENERGO-PRO a.s. (Energo-Pro) on its issuance of €700 million 8.00% guaranteed notes due 2030, offered under Rule 144A and Regulation S, and a subsequent €50 million tap issuance.

The transaction marks Energo-Pro's inaugural green bond issuance on the international market and represents notable success, with the originally planned €500 million offering significantly upsized in response to strong investor demand.

The proceeds from the initial issuance are to be used to pay the purchase price for the acquisition of the Baixo Iguaçu 350 MW hydropower plant in Brazil, to repay the company's existing US$ 435 million 8.50% guaranteed notes due in 2027, on which White & Case also advised in 2022, and for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures. The proceeds of the tap issuance are to be used for the repayment of priority debt.

The notes are admitted to trading on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin. Citigroup Global Markets Europe, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe and J. P. Morgan acted as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers on the initial issuance. Goldman Sachs Bank Europe acted as the sole lead manager on the subsequent tap issuance.

"This issuance brought together a number of features that we have been developing over recent years: financing a new strategic asset, refinancing a prior issuance, deepening cooperation with anchor investors and the use of our new Green Financing Framework. Legal support from White & Case, led by our long-term partners in Prague, was as strong and helpful as ever," said Christian Blatchford, General Counsel and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at ENERGO-PRO.

White & Case Partner Petr Hudec, who led the Firm's deal team, said: "The transaction marks a greatly successful issuance by Energo-Pro, completed within a very tight timeline amid volatile markets. It required coordination of works across more than eight jurisdictions. I am very proud of our team and glad that we were able to support Energo-Pro on yet another key transaction as part of its remarkable growth journey. The transaction is a testament to our Firm's go-to character for complex cross-border capital markets deals."

Energo-Pro is a leading hydro power generator, distributor and supplier of electricity in Central & Eastern Europe, the Black Sea region and Latin America. It operates a portfolio of over 50 hydropower plants in Bulgaria, Georgia, Türkiye, Spain and Brazil, and owns and operates electricity distribution networks in Bulgaria and Georgia. It is also investing in the development of new hydropower projects in Colombia.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partners Petr Hudec (Prague) and Melissa Butler (London), working closely with local partner Jan Vacula, and assisted by counsel Petr Šmerkl and associates Anna Bezděková, Josef Levy, Renata Ryglová and Herbert Wittlich (all Prague). The team was further strengthened by London-based partners James Green and Stuart Matty.

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