Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. is pleased to announce that its Energy and Clean Technology Practice represented GreatPoint Energy in its landmark transaction with China-based Wanxiang Holdings. As part of the deal, GreatPoint Energy has raised corporate equity investment and secured project funding totaling $1.25 billion from Wanxiang to finance and construct the first phase of a one trillion cubic feet per year coal-to natural gas production facility in China. Wanxiang will take a large minority stake in GreatPoint, an investment that is considered one of the largest by a Chinese company in an American firm financed by venture capital, according to Ernst & Young.
The joint venture calls for the construction of the world’s most efficient coal-to-natural gas production facility in China. The facility will utilize GreatPoint Energy’s Bluegas™ catalytic hydromethanation process technology which directly converts coal into pipeline quality natural gas.
“We are building a major new global energy producer for the twenty first century and focusing on one of the largest, most attractive, and fastest growing natural gas markets in the world,” said Andrew Perlman, Chief Executive Officer of GreatPoint Energy. “And we are extremely pleased that one of the most successful and well-respected companies in China has become a major shareholder in GreatPoint Energy.”
“Mintz Levin’s involvement during this complex cross-border transaction demonstrated their breadth and depth of capabilities. We were very pleased to have been supported by the Mintz team and look forward to a continuing relationship as we launch the growth stage of our business,” commented Daniel Goldman, President and CFO of GreatPoint Energy.
Representing GreatPoint Energy were Tom Burton, Chair of Mintz Levin’s Energy and Clean Technology Practice and a Member of the firm’s Corporate & Securities Section, Sahir Surmeli, Co-Chair of the Energy and Clean Technology Practice and a Member of the firm’s Corporate & Securities Section, along with attorneys Paula Valencia Galbraith and Jeff McCourt, also of the Corporate and Securities Section. Providing additional assistance were Members John Dellapa, Bruce Sokler, Jonathan Cain, Mark Riedy, Meryl Epstein and Kevin Walsh.
Since 2006, Mintz Levin’s Energy and Clean Technology Practice has completed over 250 transactions globally totaling over $4 billion in deals. The practice includes more than 40 attorneys and professionals from across the firm’s offices dedicated to offering clients a blend of comprehensive legal and government relations expertise, and practical business counseling. With over 260 energy and clean technology clients, attorneys in the Energy and Clean Technology Practice Group, working with professionals from the firm’s consulting affiliate, ML Strategies, represent leading clean technology companies and their innovative pioneers, venture capital and private equity funds and investment banks focused on the energy and clean technology space.
