Clifford Chance has acted as international counsel for a consortium of lenders to Malaysian independent power producer Malakoff Corp, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Tanjung Bin Energy Issuer, in its 6.5 billion ringgit ($2.14 billion) financing for a new 1,000 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant.

The deal represents the first participation of international lenders in a power project financing in Malaysia. The lenders are Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Mizuho Bank, HSBC, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and Singapore’s OCBC.

The senior debt facilities included the issuance of a 3.29 billion ringgit serially-amortising senior secured Islamic bond or sukuk, a $400 million term loan and a 700 million ringgit term loan. The junior facility comprised equity loans of 1.3 billion ringgit. The Rating Agency of Malaysia recently assigned a preliminary AA3 rating for Tanjung Bin's sukuk, reflecting the project's creditworthiness.

The 1,000 MW power plant project, which was awarded to Malakoff last June, will take four years to construct.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Singapore partner Ting Ting Tan, who was assisted by counsel Matthew Buchanan and senior associates Anton Trixl, Joanne Quek and Daniel Cookson. “We are very pleased to have assisted in this landmark transaction," said Tan. "This is not only evidence of the growing importance of these power projects in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, but also the increased international interest that they bring."

Albar and Partners acted for the lenders, while Shearn Delamore acted for the sponsors in relation to the financing. Kamilah and Chong acted for the sponsors in relation to the project documentation. ALB

Ranajit Dam is Southeast Asia Editor at ALB. Follow him on Twitter: @ RanajitDam_ALB.

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