CMS advises group of lenders on £120m AD refinancing

International law firm CMS has advised a group of lenders led by Allied Irish Bank (GB) (“AIB”) as Agent and Structuring Bank on the £120m refinancing of two biomethane anaerobic-digestion (AD) facilities (and its related feedstock business) in Cambridgeshire, England. AIB led a syndicate of seven other lender entities.

The borrower, Pretoria Energy Company Holdings Limited, operates more than 15,000 acres of productive arable farmland in Cambridgeshire cultivated to supply around 360,000 tonnes of organic feedstock to the AD plants. The primary PEG facility at Mepal is understood to be the largest single AD plant in the UK. 

The cross-practice CMS team was led by Banking Partner Jenny Allan (Edinburgh), with assistance from Christine Worthington (Construction), Sally Badham (Real Estate), Katie Duffield (Banking), Rebecca Roffe (Planning), Caroline Barr (Banking), Helen Targett (Real Estate), Mark Walker (Employment), Karl Williams (Corporate), Dawei Hu (Asset Finance), Karen Cossar (Construction), Ben Thomas and Jo Dance (Banking).

Matt Toolan, Head of Project and Infrastructure Finance at AIB, said: “CMS' advice was instrumental to the successful completion of this important refinancing for us. They effectively coordinated a number of complex elements associated with this transaction, and we are grateful for their support.”