LONDON—IJGlobal, a news and data service dedicated to infrastructure and energy, has awarded Covington the Power & Transmission Deal of the Year award for Europe. This accolade recognizes the firm’s role in advising ACWA Power on the debt and ownership restructuring of ACWA Guc, the owner and operator of a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Kirikkale, Turkey.
The Kirikkale CCPP Project is one of Turkey's larger merchant power plants. Originally financed in 2012 under a turnkey EPC contract with Samsung C&T Corporation, the project encountered default due to adverse market conditions, leading to a standstill agreement in 2019.
The restructuring involved a new special purpose vehicle (SPV) that bought out the majority of the lenders. Two lenders converted their debt into equity in the new SPV, allowing them, along with ACWA, to own 100% of the SPV, which in turn acquired 100% of the shares in the project company. The exit payments to the exiting lenders will be spread over several years and are guaranteed by ACWA Power. One of the converting lenders will see its share ownership gradually purchased by ACWA Power alongside the payments to the exiting lenders, while the other converting lender is expected to maintain its shareholding.
The restructuring raised complex legal issues involving English law, Turkish law, Saudi law, UAE law, DIFC law, and Bahraini law, as well as various tax considerations.
The Covington team was led by Agnieszka Klich and included Ursula Owczarkowski and Christoph Schulz.
The IJGlobal Awards celebrate the top transactions that closed during the past calendar year across the international infrastructure and energy sectors, recognizing the organizations that played pivotal roles in these deals.
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