White & Case advises SMBC, MUFG and BBVA on landmark project refinancings in Mexico

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised BBVA Mexico, S.A., MUFG Bank, Ltd., MUFG Bank México, S.A. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation on the approximately US$190 million refinancing of four utility-scale solar power projects, known as Aguascalientes, Andalucía, San Ignacio and Viborillas, located in the states of Aguascalientes, Coahuila, Jalisco and Yucatán, Mexico.

Under the terms of the transaction, continuing term loans and credit facilities were extended to each project. The credit facilities include a working capital facility and letters of credit to backstop the projects' debt service reserve accounts and to deliver performance security under the projects' power purchase agreements (PPAs), environmental permits and market participant agreements.

"These transactions mark the first major international energy project refinancings to close in Mexico in several years," said White & Case partner Carlos Viana, who co-led the Firm's deal team. "They represent landmarks in the renewed momentum of international investor appetite for the Mexican energy sector, following a prolonged period of market uncertainty and volatility."

Each project is owned by a project-specific special purpose vehicle controlled by a Mexican development trust certificates fund (CKD) managed by Riverstone, and is contracted with CFE under long-term auction PPAs for the sale of electricity and clean energy certificates.

"With the enactment of secondary legislation in the electricity sector, the government's ambitious plans for power infrastructure and the maturation of numerous auction-based PPA financings, we expect to see a clear uptick in sector activity in Mexico," said White & Case partner Juan Ruenes, who co-led the Firm's deal team. "These factors all point to a strong pipeline of similar transactions on the horizon."

The White & Case team was led by Project Development and Finance partners Carlos Viana (Miami) and Juan Ruenes (Mexico City), and included Project Development and Finance local partner Juan Carlos Llorens (Mexico City), counsel Ana Arias (Miami), and associates Chris Bergan, Jose Daniel Franco, Alberto de Villa Albarran, Gustavo Neyra Lopez, Ana Sofia Vazquez (all in Mexico City) and Joselyn Gonzalez-Castillo (Miami).

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