Allens has advised Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Company Ltd (NSRP) and the sponsors on the $5 billion financing of the $9 billion Nghi Son oil refinery in Vietnam.

The sponsors of Vietnam’s biggest project financing include Idemitsu Kosan Co, Kuwait Petroleum Europe, Mitsui Chemicals Inc, and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.

Hanoi-based partners Bill Magennis and Hop Dang led the Allens team on the transaction, assisted by partners Michael Ryan, Phillip Cornwell and Michael Hollingdale in Australia, and partner Robert Fish in Ho Chi Minh City.

Allen & Overy is advising the export credit agencies and commercial lenders, including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Export Import Bank of Korea, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

The Allen & Overy team was led by Tokyo partners Simon Black, Beijing-based Matthias Voss, and Hanoi partner Duc Tran. Partner Aled Davies, who also led on the deal, has recently moved to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Tokyo.

“This is a groundbreaking project for Vietnam, being the largest international project financing to take place since the country opened its doors to foreign investment in the early '90s, and the first major foreign- invested refinery and petrochemicals project in Vietnam,” said Allen & Overy’s Black, in a statement.

NSRP will use the loans, alongside sponsors’ equity, to fund the construction of the refinery and additional infrastructure. Construction is expected to begin in July this year, with the refinery scheduled to commence commercial operations in 2017.

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