Davis Polk advised Delek Drilling LP and Avner Oil Exploration LP, gas subsidiaries of the Delek Group, as sponsors, on the Rule 144A offering by its special-purpose vehicle Delek & Avner (Tamar Bond) Ltd.’s $2 billion principal amount of five tranches of senior secured notes, with limited recourse to the sponsors. The joint book-running managers were Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. The transaction is the largest USD, investment-grade project bond issuance to date.
The Delek Group, one of Israel’s dominant integrated energy companies, is a pioneering leader in natural gas exploration and production activities in the Eastern Mediterranean’s Levant Basin. Delek Energy Systems Ltd., through its subsidiaries Delek Drilling LP and Avner Oil Exploration LP, operates as the oil and gas exploration and production arm of Delek Group.
The Davis Polk capital markets team included partner Richard D. Truesdell Jr. and associates Jeannette K. Safi and Ferrell Maguire and law clerk Rui (Ray) Xu. The Davis Polk credit team included partners Joseph P. Hadley and Meyer C. Dworkin, former associate Mhairi Collins Immermann and associate Lauren N. Katz. Counsel Erin K. Cho provided executive compensation advice. Partner Avishai Shacher, counsel Alon Gurfinkel and associate Omer Harel provided tax advice. Counsel Jeanine P. McGuinness provided economic sanctions advice. Counsel Hayden S. Baker and associate Kevin J. Klesh provided environmental advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York, London, Paris and Washington DC offices.
