Dragages et Travaux Publics is part of France’s largest construction company, Bouygues SA.

The Hong Kong-based Minter Ellison major projects team, led by Sam Farrands and Elisabeth Ellis, has worked with Dragages for the past five months on its winning bid for this project. The new exhibition centre, which is the first public private partnership (PPP) project undertaken in Hong Kong, will create 2,000 jobs during construction and is expected to generate more than HK$78 ($15.5) billion in economic benefits over the next 25 years.

Dragages has significant expertise in PPP projects and in the construction and operation of large multi-purpose exhibition complexes. Another consortium member, NEC Group, manages five exhibition centres in the UK.

Baker & McKenzie recently acted for the City of Kyiv in the first municipal eurobond offering from Ukraine.

The transaction was structured as a US$150 ($230) million issue of loan participation notes to fund a loan to the City of Kyiv, acting through the Kyiv City Council. Kyiv is the political capital and the financial, scientific and cultural centre of Ukraine. Baker & McKenzie acted as English and Ukrainian legal advisers to the City of Kyiv. The offering was joint lead managed by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, J.P. Morgan and UBS Investment Bank.

Clifford Chance acted for the joint lead managers on English and German law matters and Ukrainian law firm Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners acted as the joint lead managers’ Ukrainian legal adviser on the transaction.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hong Kong office, advised the five export credit agencies (ECAs) participating in the landmark limited recourse financing of the US$4.3 ($6.6) billion Nanhai petrochemical project, sponsored by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Petroleum N.V..

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This is the largest limited recourse financing in Asia to date and with the various types of lenders involved (onshore lenders, offshore lenders and five ECAs) one of the most complex.

The lenders benefitted from a debt service undertaking whereby CNOOC and Shell undertake to guarantee an equal portion of amounts owed by the borrower, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited, under the debt facilities.

An innovative structure was also put in place whereby the amounts borrowed under the offshore commercial facility and the ECA facilities could be adjusted in line with the borrower’s procurement strategy, to allow the borrower maximum flexibility in its procurement.

The financing was very complicated, involving nine tranches of debt.

Latham & Watkins advised the commercial lenders. Commerce & Finance Law Office advised the lenders and the ECAs. Allen & Overy and Jingtian & Gongcheng advised the Borrower. Linklaters & Alliance advised CNOOC.