The London office of international law firm Locke Lord represented the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and advised on a PLN 800 million (EUR 195 million equivalent) long-term corporate loan facility to Energa SA and Energa Operator SA as part of the modernisation of Poland’s electricity distribution network (to include the introduction of an advanced metering system to strengthen the grid capacity). EBRD will hold up to 50 percent of the loan and has syndicated the remainder to two Polish commercial banks, PKO Bank Polski and ING Bank Slaski. The total cost of Energa Operator’s 2012-2015 investment programme is approximately PLN 5.2 billion (EUR 1.3 billion equivalent). Energa SA is one of the largest power utilities in Poland.
Locke Lord London Partner Paula Howard, along with London Associate Svetlana Sorokina-Wilson, drafted and negotiated the loan facility. EBRD is an international organisation owned by 64 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank. Formed in 1991, it helps provide financing for banks, industries and businesses and supports entrepreneurship and open market economies in projects extending from Central Europe to Central Asia.
