Trinity advises Sponsors on landmark Nigerian power transaction

The 450MW Azura-Edo IPP in Edo State, Nigeria, reached financial close at the end of December 2015. Trinity acted as international legal adviser to the project company for over four and a half years, including drafting and negotiating of the first bankable power purchase agreement in the Nigerian power sector in more than a decade. The project is the first of what is hoped to be a series of project-financed independent power plants in Nigeria and is touted as both a template and a pathfinder in the Nigerian power sector.

The total project cost is in the region of US$900,000,000, with around US$712,000,000 in senior and mezzanine debt being provided by more than fifteen financial institutions with the balance of the funding provided by equity sponsors.

Senior Lenders include global mandated lead arranger Standard Chartered Bank, joint mandated lead arranger Rand Merchant Bank, co-lead DFI arrangers International Finance Corporation (IFC) and FMO and First City Monument Bank as local loan arranger, The Standard Bank of South Africa, Siemens Bank, KfW, DEG, Proparco, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, ICF Debt Pool, Swedfund, CDC and OPIC. The debt facilities included a commercial tranche backed by MIGA PRI and IBRD PRG products, a DFI tranche, a local Nigerian Naira and a smaller DFI mezzanine facility.

Project sponsors include the founding and lead sponsors Amaya Capital and include American Capital Energy & Infrastructure, the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund 2, Aldwych International Limited alongside the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 and the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund.

Separately, Trinity’s private equity team acted as legal adviser to Amaya Capital on its equity fundraising process and for Azura Power Holdings Limited in respect of the shareholder arrangements between the various sponsors to the project.