UUBO’s Energy and Projects team has advised Geometric Power Limited in connection with (1) the US$50 million new debt funding provided by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), (2) the debt restructuring of a facility of more than USD 500 million provided by three Nigerian lenders to Geometric Power Aba Limited (an affiliate of Geometric Power Limited), (3) the Aba Integrated Power Project (“Aba IPP”), and (4) the investment in the Aba Power Plant Project by equity investors who provided an aggregate amount of USD 19 million in new equity funding.
The Aba IPP is the most impactful and significant power sector project closing following the conclusion of the Azura transaction in 2015 and the power sector privatization in 2013. It is an integrated power island that has its own generation assets and its own distribution assets to serve a population of approximately 2 million people within 9 Local Government Areas in Abia State.
The transaction will lead to the creation of the 12th electricity distribution company in Nigeria and the establishment of a fully integrated utility by Geometric Group, having its own distribution network, an embedded generation facility, and a dedicated 27-kilometer pipeline that will supply natural gas to the power plant. The BPE handed over the Aba IPP to Geometric today, Wednesday, 16th February 2022.
The UUBO team was led by Energy and Projects Partners Nicholas Okafor and Onyinye Okafor, with support from Amina Ibrahim (Managing Associate), Victor Samuel (Senior Associate), as well as Chisom Okolie, Maryam Salami, Uchechukwu Ajala, Oluwatobi Akintayo, Godson Iwuozo and Opeyemi Adeshina (Associates).
