DEALS
Zhong Lun Advises a Project Company of China Windpower Group on Syndicated Loan Led by International Finance Corporation
Zhong Lun Advises a Project Company of China Windpower Group on Syndicated Loan Led by International Finance Corporation
Zhong Lun has recently advised a Project Company of China Windpower Group on syndicated loans led by International Finance Corporation (IFC), the first wind farm project in China to get long-term project finance debt in US dollars from a syndicate of international banks, which won the prestigious award of “Asia Renewable Deal of the Year" by the well recognized journal “Project Finance International".
The project is to be funded by a combination of senior debt and sponsor equity. Senior debt consists of a US$45m 12-year A loan provided by the IFC, which originated the transaction, and a US$95m 10-year syndicated IFC B loan. A particularly innovative FX hedging strategy and a classic interest rate hedge have been adopted to protect the project cashflows in the event of renminbi fluctuations.
The borrower of the project was Gansu Guazhou Xiehe Wind Power Co., Ltd., a project company of China WindPower Group Limited, which engages in the design, construction, fabrication, equipping, delivery, installation, commissioning and placing into operation of a 201MW wind power plant project located in the Gobi desert, 56.5 km northwest of Guazhou County, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, the PRC in the “Ganhekou No. 8 Wind Power Farm Project in Jiuquan Wind Power Base". The first two disbursements were completed at the end of 2010.
This project has won the prestigious award of “Asia Renewable Deal of the Year" by the “Project Finance International". The project is dubbed by PFI, an internationally renowned magazine which provides up-to-date global information on project financing, as a benchmark for international financing of Chinese wind projects.
Zhong Lun Law Firm acted as counsel for China Windpower Group in the debt financing and sponsor equity. Shirley Lu Jing of Shanghai Office led the team that comprised partners Hu Tingfeng, Jane Yao Pingping and associates Dong Jianping, Xiong Dezheng, Shi Huashuo and Zhai Ke from Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong offices.
