Overview
Robert Freedman is a Lead Industry Coordinator for Energy and a partner in the Project Development & Finance practice.
He focuses on finance and development, asset acquisitions and dispositions, and complex work-outs and restructurings of infrastructure assets across the breadth of infrastructure sectors, including power, renewables and sustainable development, oil and gas, and transportation.
Robert’s clients include major corporations, private equity and other institutional investors, banks and financial institutions.
Experience
- ENGIE on its joint venture with Tokyo Gas to own, develop and operate four solar parks and two wind farms in Mexico with a combined capacity of 721 MW. The projects were awarded to ENGIE in the Second and Third Long-Term Electricity Auction held by CENACE in Mexico
- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on the $6.1 billion acquisition of Pattern Energy Group, which owns 28 renewable energy projects, including wind and solar, totaling 4.4 gigawatts across the U.S., Canada and Japan
- MUFG Bank as administrative agent, and the lenders, fixed rate note purchasers and issuing bank on the financing of the Jackson Power Project, an approximately 1,200 megawatt gas-fired power project to be located in Will County, IL, sponsored by J-Power; also separately advised two issuing banks on supporting corporate letter of credit facility transactions
- ING Capital as administrative agent, Bank of Montreal, CoBank and Investec as joint lead arrangers and lenders on the CCS Power Finance senior secured term loan and revolver
- Administrative agent and lenders on a term loan facility and revolving credit facility for Granite Generation, an affiliate of LS Power, to be used to repay certain existing indebtedness of power projects in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Virginia with a combined generating power of approximately 4.8 GW, and for other corporate purposes
- Mizuho, MUFG and Keybank as issuing banks, and the note purchasers on the note purchase and letter of credit facility for CED California Holdings 4, a subsidiary of ConEd Development, to finance the ownership and operation of the 140 MW Panoche and 106.7 MW Wistaria projects located in California
- MUFG Bank, as administrative agent and coordinating lead arranger, and the lenders and issuing banks on the back leveraged financing for a portfolio of six solar projects owned indirectly by Consolidated Edison Development, located in Fresno County, California, Clark County, Nevada and Maricopa County, Arizona
- OMERS Infrastructure Management on the acquisition of Leeward Renewable Energy from affiliates of ArcLight Capital Partners, and the related financing. Leeward is a leading wind power asset owner, operator and developer of wind projects in the United States across 19 operating projects, many of which had tax equity structures in place, with a total installed capacity of 1.7 GW
- The joint lead arrangers and lenders on a senior secured loan facility to Stonepeak Kestrel Holdings with the acquisition of 100% of the equity interests in GenOn Holdco, the owner of the Canal 1 and Canal 2 Generating Facilities, with a combined generating capacity of approximately 1112 MW, located in Sandwich, Massachusetts
- The private placement investors on the financing for the acquisition of a 23.8% ownership interest in the Bath County Hydro Power Plant located in Bath County, Virginia by affiliates of LS Power
- MUFG as placement agent and the investors for a portfolio of five wind projects in Montana and South Dakota; the private placement investors and letter of credit bank on the placement of senior secured fixed rate term notes and a senior secured letter of credit facility for several photovoltaic solar and wind projects in Texas and California; all projects owned by Consolidated Edison
- General Electric on its sale of GE Energy Financial Services' Project Finance Debt Business to Starwood Property Trust
- The sponsors, including GE Energy Financial Services, on a senior secured private placement and bank facility, to finance the development and operation of an approximately 850 MW greenfield combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant in the Axapusco municipality located outside of Mexico City, Mexico
- GE Capital Global Holdings on its acquisition of a 24.99% stake in YPF Energía Eléctrica from YPF
- The lenders, including GE Financial Services, on a financing for the construction of an approximately 485 MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric generation facility being developed by affiliates of Ares EIF and EmberClear in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
- BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, as coordinating lead arrangers and joint bookrunners, on the financing of the St. Joseph Energy Center, a nameplate 700 MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric generation facility located in Indiana
- GE Energy Financial Services on the sale of its equity interest in the Linden Cogeneration Facility, first to Highstar Capital and then to Ares EIF Group
Qualifications
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Education
Georgetown University Law Center
Binghamton University
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Admissions
Of Note
Awards & Accolades
- Ranked Band 1 for Projects-USA-Nationwide (2019) by Chambers USA
- Named a Leading Lawyer by IFLR1000 in 2018 and 2019
- Lauded by clients for his “superb business acumen and legal understanding,” Robert Freedman is recognized as a “highly respected” and leading lawyer in project finance by Chambers & Partners, IFLR 1000, Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers in Project Finance and International Who’s Who of Project Finance Lawyers.
- Clients tell Chambers USA that Robert is “a great guy and a fabulous lawyer,” has “brilliant business acumen and understanding,” and that “he has a great intellect and is practical and easy to work with.”
Regional Experience
Key Issues