Simpson Thacher recently represented the initial purchasers and lenders in a $1.2 billion financing of four wind power projects with a total of 570-megawatt capacity that are being developed by Terra-Gen Power LLC in the Tehachapi area of California. The Alta Wind II, III, IV and V projects (“Alta Wind II-V”) are the second phase of Terra-Gen’s Alta Wind Energy Center, a 3,000-megawatt initiative considered to be one of the largest U.S. wind development projects. The financing for Alta II-V included the issuance of approximately $580 million of 7.00% Pass-Through Certificates due 2035, a construction bridge loan facility of $499 million and ancillary credit facilities of $127 million. Proceeds from the certificates and bridge loans will be used to fund construction of Alta Wind II-V.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as joint book-running managers for the issuance of the Pass-Through Certificates, and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Crédit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc., ING Financial Markets LLC, and Rabo Securities USA, Inc. acted as co-managers. The bank lender group included Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, as administrative agent, Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A., “Rabobank Nederland”, New York Branch, ING Capital LLC, Barclays Bank PLC, Citibank, N.A., and Bank of Montreal.
The permanent financing of Alta Wind II-V is structured as a leveraged lease whereby Citibank, N.A. has committed to purchase the projects at the start of commercial operations and lease them back to Terra-Gen.
Terra-Gen Power, an affiliate of Boston energy investment group ArcLight Capital Partners and independent infrastructure investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners, develops renewable energy projects with a focus on wind, geothermal and solar generation.
The Simpson Thacher team included Ken Wyman, Amy Beller, Makiko Harunari, Michael T. Holick, Moiz Ali and summer associate Nirav Mehta (Credit); David Lieberman, Hui Lin, Jordan Taylor and Kate Renaud (Securities); Mardi Merjian, Frank Giovinazzo and summer associate Jennifer McGroarty (Real Estate); Michael Isby (Environmental); Moshe Schwerd and Andrew Purcell (Tax); Susan Kaufman and Stephanie Mash (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits); Brian Chisling (Regulatory) and Erik Hepler (UCC). Paralegals Dara Kanowitz and Yvonne Colebank also provided valuable assistance.