The Firm represented First Reserve Corporation and the sponsor, GenPower Holdings, L.P., in the project financing of the Longview coal-fired power plant. The financing included a $1.1 billion debt package consisting of term loans, a revolving credit facility and a synthetic letter of credit. The total project cost is $1.8 billion, with GenPower Holdings, L.P. committing to provide the balance of the construction funding required for the project. Financial closing for the project occurred on February 28, 2007.
The Longview project is a 695 net megawatt supercritical, pulverized coal-fired generating facility being built in Maidsville, West Virginia. The project will sell electricity on a merchant basis, with only 300 megawatts of its output covered by an off-take contract at the financial closing.
GenPower Holdings is a joint venture between First Reserve and the Massachusetts-based developer GenPower, LLC. The debt underwriters and financial advisors for the project were Goldman Sachs & Co. and WestLB AG New York Branch.
Simpson Thacher fielded a broad team of advisors to assist GenPower Holdings and First Reserve in this transaction:
Ken Wyman, David Lieberman, Alden Millard, Vanessa Bressler, Jessica Tuchinsky (Credit); Mark Tibberts, Amy Beller and Sean Murphy (Project Development and Credit); Barrie Covit (Private Funds); Barry Ostrager, Mary Beth Forshaw, Jamie Gamble, David Elbaum, Jason Stone, Ryan Kane, Sandra Chiocchi, Paul Quigley and Elizabeth Warnick (Litigation); Mardi Merjian (Real Estate); Nancy Mehlman and Diane Gipstein (Tax); Adeeb Fadil, Mike Isby and Tim Mulvihill (Environmental); Jeanne Annaruma (ERISA). Paralegals Aimee Sorbo and Doug Henderson provided valuable assistance.