Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on acquisition of Chevron's geothermal assets in South East Asia

Singapore: Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised a consortium comprising Star Energy Group Holdings Pte. Ltd., Star Energy Geothermal Pte. Ltd., AC Energy Holdings, Inc. (a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation) and Electricity Generating Public Company Limited on the entry into binding agreements to acquire global energy provider Chevron's geothermal operations in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The assets in both countries include geothermal fields with a combined capacity to generate more than 1100 MW of electricity and steam.

Lead partner Melissa Ng comments, "We are very pleased to have assisted the consortium of Star Energy, AC Energy and EGCO on this landmark transaction, the largest in the sector in Southeast Asia this year. We congratulate the consortium, who prevailed in a competitive and well publicised auction process, and look forward to assisting them to complete their acquisition of these highly sought after renewable energy assets."

The complex transaction involved specialist corporate and financing input from a cross-border team led by Singapore partners Melissa Ng and Andrew Brereton, who were assisted locally by corporate and finance lawyers including Valerie Kong, Cho Bong-Sang, Xu Yiting, Chua Si Wei, Vipavee Kaosala, Benjamin Moh, Lin Yang, Soumya Bhagavatula, Jonathan Lit and Ario Pamungkas. The Singapore team was supported by Amsterdam, led by partner Mark Jan Arends on Dutch law aspects, and Bangkok led by partner Joseph Tisuthiwongse on Thai elements of the transaction.

This transaction cements Clifford Chance's position as a leading adviser in the renewable energy sector. Recently, Clifford Chance advised on the financing of Australia's first integrated solar and storage project of scale. Located in Far North Queensland, the Conergy-sponsored project also received an AUD17.4 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and benefits from a power purchase agreement with Origin Energy.