Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the lenders, issuing banks and hedge providers, on the US$1.2 billion equivalent multi-tranche and dual-currency financing provided to Sociedad Transmisora Metropolitana SpA (STM) for the acquisition of the entire stake in Enel Transmisión Chile S.A. (Enel Transmisión Chile), from Enel Chile S.A. and other shareholders participating in the public tender offer conducted in Chile.

The lenders provided a multi-tranche and dual currency (US dollar and Chilean peso) senior secured term loan facility and the issuing banks provided letters of credit on behalf of STM. The acquisition was funded with a combination of debt provided by the lenders and certain equity contributions made by STM’s parent company, Inversiones Grupo Saesa Limitada (Saesa).

Enel Transmisión Chile operates 683 km of transmission lines and manages 60 substations (57 owned and three owned by third parties) in Santiago’s metropolitan area. Saesa is the second largest electricity distributor in Chile in terms of geographic coverage.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Fabricio Longhin and associate Julian Hurtado Vallejo and included lawyers across multiple practice areas in Washington, DC and New York:

• Project Finance: associate Joyce Moore and foreign law clerks Adriana Cabal Gutierrez and Lucia Guardone advised the senior lenders and issuing banks.
• Capital Markets: Partner Darren Littlejohn and associates David Martinez and Alexis Haddock advised the hedge providers.

• Tax: Partner Avrohom Gelber and associate Wei Bin Tan provided tax advice.