Latham & Watkins Advises NextDecade on Capital Raises That Enable Its Positive Final Investment Decision of Train 4 at Rio Grande LNG
NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ: NEXT) has announced that it has made a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 4 of its Rio Grande LNG multi-train natural gas liquefaction and LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.
NextDecade successfully closed a series of committed financings to fund the expected US$6.7 billion of project costs for Train 4 and related infrastructure, including:
- US$600 million “super finco” back-leverage facility from a private credit fund to fund NextDecade’s initial equity contribution
- US$734 million “finco” delayed draw back-leverage commercial bank facility to fund NextDecade’s subsequent equity contributions
- US$2.82 billion joint venture, including US$1.70 billion of equity commitments from Global Infrastructure Partners (a part of BlackRock), GIC, Mubadala Investment Company, and TotalEnergies and US$1.12 billion of equity commitments from NextDecade
- US$3.85 billion senior secured commercial bank term loan facility
Latham & Watkins LLP advised NextDecade and its subsidiaries and affiliates with respect to the joint venture arrangements, the super finco financing, the finco financing, the senior secured term loan facility, and various project documents to enable FID. These investments come off the back of the initial phase of the Rio Grande LNG facility that achieved FID in 2023 and further accelerate NextDecade’s ground-breaking development.
The Latham team was led by partners Jason Webber, Hamad Al-Hoshan, and Christopher Peponis. Mr. Webber and corporate associates Alice Parker, Robert Cunningham, Melanie von Staa Toledo, and Braydon Jones advised on the joint venture arrangements. Mr. Webber, Mr. Al-Hoshan, Houston partner Pamela Kellet, and financing associates Andres Chester, Jiyeon Chun, Mariana de Medeiros Ferez, and Vivian Hui advised on the super finco financing, with assistance from Randon Alexander Herrera. Mr. Webber, Mr. Al-Hoshan, and financing associates Hyunjong (Josh) Ryu, MinJoo Lee, Yoon Lee, Josh Podolsky, Conrad Proulx, Victoria Gross, and Alice Dales* advised on the finco and senior secured facilities. Mr. Webber, Mr. Al-Hoshan, Mr. Peponis, and project development associates Silvia Martin, Carlos Diaz, Siyao Liu, and Ike Obioma** advised on the project documents. Tax partner Jim Cole with associate Jacob Nagelberg advised on and partners Yvette Valdez and Carlos Alvarez, with associates Mia Stefanou and Naffie Lamin advised on interest rate derivatives, including deal contingent hedges.
*Admitted to practice in Victoria (Australia) only.
**Admitted to practice in New York only.