Richard Keenan

International Partner

Practice Description

Richard Keenan has significant experience in project finance transactions in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, India and Asia. He advises on all aspects of project financings, including development, operation and financing of projects and his experience in terms of industry sectors includes power and water, oil and gas (upstream and downstream), mining and industrial sectors.

Mr. Keenan's experience comprises of advising the lenders on the Marafiq and Shuaibah independent water and power projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the sponsors in relation to the Fujairah F2 independent power and water project in the United Arab Emirates, which are among the largest IWPPs ever financed in the world. A number of the projects he has worked on have received "Deal of the Year" awards by leading industry journals. Mr. Keenan has also advised sponsors and lenders in connection with some of the largest oil and gas projects financed in the Middle East and India, and he has recently advised various lender consortiums in relation to the financing of mining projects in Africa including the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia and the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt project in Madagascar.

Representative Matters

• Advising International Power and Marubeni in connection with the $2.8 billion development and financing of the Fujairah F2 Independent Water and Power project in the United Arab Emirates.
• Advising BNP Paribas, GIB and Samba (as the Mandated Lead Arrangers), KEIC (the official export insurer of Korea) and Riyad Bank, Al Rahji and National Commercial Bank (as arrangers of the Islamic facility) for the $2.7 billion financing of the Marafiq Independent Water and Power project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Advising the project sponsors (Biwater and Al Kharafi & Sons) in connection with the $400 million financing of 2 sewage treatment plants in the United Arab Emirates. The project is one of the first wastewater treatment BOOT projects in the Middle East and is the first UAE wastewater project to be carried out on a project finance basis.
• Advising the lenders (agency, commercial bank and Islamic funders) in the $2.5 billion financing for the Shuaibah Independent Water and Power project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The deal has been named “EMEA Project Finance Deal of the Year” by International Financial Law Review and “EMEA Power Deal of the Year” by both Euromoney’s Project Finance magazine and Project Finance International Yearbook 2006.
• Advising the lenders (14 commercial banks) in relation to Reliance Petroleum Ltd’s $6.1 billion dollar expansion of its oil and gas refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. Of the total US$6.1 billion cost of the expansion, $2 billion dollars is to be loaned by the 14 commercial banks. Once the expansion works are completed, the refinery will be the largest oil and gas refinery in the world.
• Advising the project sponsors in the construction and development of a $2.5 billion shared ethane cracker/polyethylene processing facility in Jubail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the financing provided by a consortium of commercial banks and export credit agencies.
• Advising the lenders (including five export credit agencies) in the $4.5 billion Yemen LNG project involving the construction and operation of a two-train natural gas liquefaction plant plus associated pipelines, storage and port facilities.
• Advising the lenders on the Ambatovy project in Madagascar, among the largest nickel projects under development in the world. The financing was in the region of $2.5 billion and was provided by AfDB, EDC, EIB, JBIC, Kexim and commercial banks.
• Advising the lenders on a $1 billion project financing for Equinox Minerals’ copper mine at Lumwana in Zambia. The lenders provided an amalgam of 12 different credit facilities, pulling together commercial banks, export credit agencies and development agencies. This represents one of the largest copper projects anywhere in the world currently advancing towards production and among the largest project financed mining deals in Africa to date.
• Advising project sponsors in the development and financing of the Hamma water desalination project in Algeria. Financing was provided by OPIC. This was the first project to be financed in Algeria on a project financed basis.
• Advising the project sponsors in a commercial bank and ECA project financing of a $1.2 billion petrochemical facility to be constructed by Gulf of Suez Petrochemical Company near Alexandria, Egypt.
• Advising project sponsors in relation to the Euro 461 million financing of the Rijnmond 790 MW gas-fired combined cycle electric power and steam co-generation facility in The Netherlands. This deal was awarded the “European Power Deal of the Year 2002” by Project Finance Magazine.
• Advising the lenders in relation to the Rizziconi nominal 800 MW gas-fired combined cycle power project to be located near Rizziconi in the southern Italian region of Calabria.
• Advising the project sponsors in relation to the $2.5 billion development and financing of the Hongsa 1800 MW lignite coal mine - mouth power project in the Hongsa District, Sayaboury Province of Lao PDR.

Publications

Speeches and Events