Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises on Yinson Production's ~US$1.17 billion FPSO project bond in Brazil

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised the global coordinators, joint bookrunners and co-managers on Yinson Bergenia Production B.V. (Yinson Production)'s 144A/Reg S offering of ~US$1.17 billion aggregate principal amount of its 8.498% Senior Secured Notes due 2045 (the Notes).

The firm also advised the issuing lenders and lenders under a letter of credit facility to fund reserve accounts in connection with the Notes financing, and Citibank with respect to Dutch and English law matters, in its various capacities as trustee and agent in connection with the Notes and the letter of credit facility.

Yinson Production is a subsidiary of Malaysian infrastructure and technology company Yinson. The proceeds of the issuance will be used to refinance a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit deployed at an oil field off the coast of Brazil. The FPSO unit Maria Quitéria is chartered to Petrobras and can produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day and process up to 5 million cubic meters of gas.

Lead partner Gianluca Bacchiocchi commented, "This transaction underscores our firm's ability to mobilize a global, multi-practice team to deliver on complex financing solutions. We are proud to have supported our clients on this issuance, which reflects the growing appetite for structured project bonds in the market and highlights the strength of our capabilities in the region."

Working with Bacchiocchi was a multijurisdictional, cross practice team advising the global coordinators, joint book runners and co-managers:

• New York: Associates Paula Ferreira and David Rondon, with partner Avrohom Gelber advising on tax matters and associate Ivona Dimov advising on ERISA matters
• São Paulo: Counsel Anja Pfleger Andrade, associate Pedro Vasques Milhinhos and staff attorney Guilherme Laudisio
• Amsterdam: Partner Nienke van Stekelenburgh, senior associate Vincent Engel and associate Ena Talic, with partner Michiel Sunderman, counsel Nolan Groenland and advocaat-stagiaire Diederik de Kruijff advising on Tax matters
• London: Partners Anne Drakeford and Faizal Khan and lawyers Serena Polycarpou and Sarah McCullagh

Additionally, counsel Andrés Berry and associate David Rondon advised the issuing lenders and lenders on the letter of credit facility.

The global coordinators were Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. The joint bookrunners were HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Santander US Capital Markets LLC, ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch, and Standard Chartered Bank AG. The co-managers were Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A., New York Agency, Samuel A. Ramirez & Company, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, MUFG Securities Asia Limited and Natixis Securities Americas LLC.

The issuing lenders and lenders included Citibank, N.A., Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A., New York Agency and ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch.