Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has advised Footprint Power in the financing of the Salem Harbor Power Station development project. Under the terms of the financing transaction, Highstar Capital IV, L.P., and its affiliated funds (“Highstar IV”) managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”) will invest 87.5% of the equity necessary for construction of the project. An affiliate of Toyota Tsusho Corporation will invest the remaining 12.5% of the construction equity. Project developer Footprint Power LLC will retain an equity interest in the project and will remain active in the ongoing management of the project.  

Simultaneously with the equity commitments of Highstar IV and Toyota Tsusho, the company closed on debt financing for the project. A consortium of lenders led by MUFG Bank, GE Energy Financial Services and BNP Paribas has committed a total of $600 million in construction financing in addition to a $130 million letter of credit facility.

Debevoise also advised in connection with the EPC Contract with Iberdrola Energy Projects, Inc. to build a 700MW state-of-the-art combined-cycle gas electric generating facility to replace the coal- and oil-fired generation plant previously located at the site. Notice to proceed was delivered simultaneously with closing.

Debevoise previously advised Footprint Power in its purchase of the Salem Harbor Station property from Dominion Energy Inc. in 2012.  Footprint Power acquired the property with the intention of shutting down, demolishing and remediating the 60 year old coal and oil fired facility and replacing it with a smaller, cleaner and more efficient natural gas facility. The new plant will take up one third of the property, leaving the remainder for new waterfront development.  Footprint Power will retain the remaining 40 acres for future development unrelated to the new power plant.

Footprint Power is dedicated to helping owners of older coal- and oil-fired power plants – and the communities that host them – transition these facilities and sites to other productive purposes.

The Debevoise team was led by partner Sarah A.W. Fitts and counsel Armando Rivera Jacobo and included partners Ivan E. Mattei and Peter Schuur, counsel Emilie T. Hsu and Steven S. Michaels, and associates Kevin Bensley, Katie Hermann, Daniel Priest, Christopher H. Rogala and Harry Zirlin.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a premier law firm with market-leading practices, a global perspective and strong New York roots. The firm’s commercially savvy lawyers regularly lead strategic transactions and complex disputes for world-class clients.