White & Case has advised Chubu Electric Power Company on its acquisition of a 5% equity interest in the Ras Laffan C Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) in Qatar from Mitsui and Co. The US$3.32bn financing for the project was mainly raised through Japanese and Qatari banks. Allen & Overy acted for Mitsui & Co.

The White & Case team working on the Chubu Electric transactions includes energy, infrastructure and project finance partner Mark Goodrich, Hendrik Gordenker, Toshio Dokei and associates Amanda Cheney and Micah Sadoyama, who are all based in the firm’s Tokyo office. The firm established its presence in Japan in 1995 through a joint enterprise with Japan-licensed attorneys. 

Latham & Watkins advised the Ras Girtas Power Company while Skadden advised the lenders which included the Islamic Development Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank. Ashurst were the legal advisers to Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Ras Laffan C will be the largest power and water plant in Qatar. Its recent completion follows Chubu Electric’s earlier acquisition of a 10% equity interest in the Mesaieed A Independent Power Project (IPP) from Marubeni Corporation. Norton Rose acted for Mesaieed Power Company.