Focus – November 2013

Introduction

Welcome to the November 2013 edition of Focus.

We’re having a busy year-end at Trinity and have plenty of news, analysis and information to share with you.

We welcome Gail Wong to the Trinity team. Gail joins us from Baker & McKenzie Singapore where she advised sponsors and lenders on projects and PPPs in the power and infrastructure sectors in various emerging markets. We have also been joined on a secondment by Pauline Among, who is on a short-term placement from the Ugandan Development Corporation. Pauline comes to us via International Lawyers for Africa, of which Trinity is a partner. We also welcome Paul Harley.  Paul joins the Trinity mining team in Perth, Australia focussing on resource development and finance.

Article

In this month’s article, Associate  Tamila Nakazwel looks at harnessing private equity as an alternative source of finance to further Africa’s economic growth and development agenda.

Legalese

In this month’s Legalese, Associate Gail Wong looks at the issue of good faith in English law.

Headlines

In other news:

• Trinity partners Simon Norris and Kaushik Ray and senior legal consultant Ana-Katarina Hajduka have written the chapter on wind power in Africa for the forthcoming publication: Wind: Projects and Transactions published by Globe Law and Business. For further details, please see the attached link:  http://www.globelawandbusiness.com/WPT/
• The Chirnogeni wind farm in Romania (in relation to which Trinity acted for developers) reached financial close in early autumn. Construction is speeding ahead and the deal has won both Project Finance International and World Finance deal of the year (for Onshore Wind and Wind deal of the year respectively).
• Trinity at Indaba ‘€“ We will again be attending the Mining Indaba in South Africa in February next year and will host our annual “Meet ‘n’ Greet’ between mining companies and African focused commercial banks, development banks and investors. We are particularly keen to facilitate the symbiotic relationship between mining and infrastructure and, as with last year’s event, provide a forum for greater interaction between these sectors. Invitations will follow in the next few weeks but please don’t hesitate to register your interest in advance by sending an email to [email protected].

Closed Deals

Trinity has closed a number of deals in the past few months. Highlights include:

• Advising incoming sponsors on the development and financing of the Kinangop Wind Farm in Kenya, the first commercial bank funded large-scale wind farm in Kenya. The Trinity private equity team also advised the incoming sponsor on all corporate and shareholder matters relating to the acquisition of the majority of the existing developer’s interest;
• Advising various Lenders on the development of six South African round 2 renewables programme deals (Linde PV, Dreunberg PV, Gouda Wind, Sishen PV, Aurora PV and Vredendaal PV);
• Acting for a West African power platform on a multimillion dollar investment in it by a global energy private equity fund;
• Advising Lenders on the financial and commercial adjustment of a $65,000,000 acquisition and corporate purposes financing for one of the leading oil well construction, drilling and oil tools service providers in West Africa;
• Advising a commercial bank on the financing of the construction of a large retail and commercial complex in Accra, Ghana; and Advising Lenders on long-term hedging arrangements for a pan-African debt fund.

New deals

We have had a busy few months and have been appointed on new transactions, including:

• Advising a consortium on the development of a solar power plant in Cameroon;
• Advising a leading African infrastructure fund on the potential acquisition of stakes in a number of power and infrastructure transactions in West and Eastern Africa;
• Advising a leading Africa-focussed commercial bank on a thermal power project in Mozambique;
• Advising a Rwandan government entity on the installation of a national IT platform;
• Advising a leading Africa-focussed commercial bank on a petroleum storage project in Mauritius;
• Advising a leading Nordic government fund on a financial institutions transaction in Namibia;
• Advising a leading French private sector development fund on the refurbishment of a leisure complex in Nairobi, Kenya;
• Advising lenders in the mining sector on various equipment or mining-related financings in Mali and Zambia;
• Advising on the sale of a majority interest in a leading private equity-backed West African distributor;
• Advising on a beverage distribution agreement in West Africa;
• Advising on another acquisition of a majority shareholding in (Trinity’s third) Kenyan wind farm; and
• Advising on an early-stage investment in a UK recruitment platform.

The team continues to work day-to-day on transactions in Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, Ghana, Mozambique, Gabon, Mauritius, South Africa, Zambia, Mali, Cameroon, Uganda, Somaliland, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Malawi as well as in the UK, Greece, Romania, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Nicaragua.

Trinity is pleased to be currently advising on the development or financing of a series of transactions across emerging markets, which ‘ as and when they reach financial close ‘ will result in several ‘firsts’ in those relevant markets. The current size of transactions under instruction at Trinity is well in excess of US$50bn.

Getting in touch

As ever, if you have any comments or questions about Focus, or generally, please get in touch.

Key Contacts:

Paul Biggs: [email protected]
Patrick Leece: [email protected]
Simon Norris: [email protected]
Kaushik Ray: [email protected]

Remember you can follow us on Twitter @TrinityIntLLP.