All Professionals
Overview
Robert Freedman is co-chair of the Energy and Infrastructure practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office.
He focuses on finance and development, asset acquisitions and dispositions, and complex work-outs and restructurings of infrastructure assets across infrastructure sectors — including power, renewables and sustainable development — and transportation. In finance matters, Rob regularly represents parties in the many different types of markets utilized in the current E&I sector, including construction and back-leverage financings, Term Loan A, Term Loan B, acquisition financings, mezzanine financings and private placement financings.
Rob’s clients include banks and financial institutions, major corporations, private equity and other institutional investors.
Accolades
- Band 1 – Nationwide: Projects, Chambers USA
- Nationwide: Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy, Chambers USA
- Highly Regarded – Project Finance, IFLR USA
- North America Wind Deal of the Year, IJGlobal (2018)
- Leading Lawyer – Project Finance, Legal 500 US
- Americas Storage Deal of the Year, Project Finance International (2020)
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. (cum laude)
- Binghamton University, B.S. (summa cum laude)
Representations
- BNP Paribas as administrative agent, lender and revolving facility issuing bank, and ING Capital, SMBC, Crédit Agricole, CIT Bank and Associated Bank as lenders on the financing of a portfolio of 25 solar projects with a total installed capacity of approximately 365 MWac, acquired by LS Power from Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) and located across the United States.
- CIT Bank, Crédit Agricole and SMBC as coordinating lead arrangers, joint bookrunners, co-syndication agents, lenders and LC issuers; Société Generale as joint lead arranger and lender; and First Bank of Florida as lender on a term loan, revolver and letter of credit facilities to CGP Holding Finance II in connection with refinancing of the three interlinked geothermal power plants with a nameplate turbine capacity totaling approximately 300 MW.
- HPS in a loan to a community solar developer to finance development activities.
- The lead arrangers in a financing for the Los Alamitos microgrid project with a Power Purchase Agreement with a California utility. Project included a microgrid comprised of approximately 31MWdc of photovoltaic solar, a 20MW/40MWh (two-hour duration) battery energy storage system and 3.125 MW reciprocating engine gensets.
- The lead arrangers in the construction and back-leverage financings for three different solar projects owned by Apex Clean Energy.
- The lead arrangers in the construction and term financing for the Longhorn Solar Project owned by affiliates of Ashtrom — one of the first recent transactions to project finance a long-term PTC Transfer Agreement.
- The lead arrangers in the back-leverage financing for a portfolio of renewable projects owned by BayWa (including both a tax equity and tax credit sale component).
- The lead arrangers in a portfolio construction and back-leverage financing for battery projects in California and Texas owned by Broad Reach.
- The lead arrangers and private placement noteholders in the construction financing and subsequent private placement back-leverage take-out financing for three solar projects in Nevada and Virginia owned by Con Edison Development.
- The lead arranger in the construction and back-leverage financing for a battery system and a portfolio of solar projects owned by Greenbacker.
- The lead arrangers in the construction and back-leverage financing for the Boswell wind project owned by affiliates of Innergex.
- The lead arrangers in the construction and back-leverage financing for multiple solar projects owned by Invenergy.
- The lead arrangers in the construction and back-leverage take-out financing for the El Sauz wind project in Texas owned by JERA Renewables.
- The lead arrangers in the financings for LS Power’s Bolt battery assets — including the construction financing for what was then the largest battery asset in the world.
- The lead arrangers to LS Power in the acquisition financing for the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative gas-fired power projects.
- The lead arrangers to LS Power in the refinancing of the Ravenswood Power project
- The lead arrangers in a portfolio construction and back-leverage financing for battery projects in California sponsored by Middle River Power.
- The lead arrangers in the construction financing for the Kapolei battery project in Hawaii owned by affiliates of Plus Power — the largest battery project in the State of Hawaii.
- The lead arrangers in the back-leverage refinancing for a portfolio of renewable projects owned by SB Energy.
- The lead arrangers in the construction financing for the Double Black Diamond solar project owned by affiliates of Swift Current — one of the largest solar projects in the United States.
- Lenders and BNP Paribas as administrative agent on the $210 million term facility and a $20 million revolving facility in connection with the acquisition of the Yards Creek Hydroelectric Generating Station.
- MUFG Bank as administrative agent and lender and BNP Paribas, ING Capital LLC and Royal Bank of Canada as lenders on a credit facility to Bolt Energy Finance for the construction and expansion of an up to 490 MW/1,525 MWh partially contracted portfolio of three battery energy storage projects located in California. This is the largest financing of battery energy storage systems to date, and one of the battery energy storage projects in the portfolio, Gateway Energy Storage, is the largest in the world.
- MUFG as placement agent and the investors for a portfolio of five wind projects in Montana and South Dakota; the private placement investors and letter of credit bank on the placement of senior secured fixed rate term notes and a senior secured letter of credit facility for several photovoltaic solar and wind projects in Texas and California; all projects owned by Consolidated Edison.
- The note purchasers in a private placement financing for Arglass in connection with the refinancing of its Furnace 1 and the construction financing for its Furnace 2.
- The note purchasers in a private placement financing for multiple Canadian hydro projects owned by Atlantic Power in Canada.
- The note purchasers in a private placement financing for Canadian port assets owned by Global Container Terminals.
- Affiliates of OMERS Infrastructure in the sale of a minority interest to EDP Renewables North America in a 596MW portfolio of four wind assets located in Illinois, Texas, Oregon and Minnesota to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure.
- OMERS Infrastructure Management on the acquisition of Leeward Renewable Energy from affiliates of ArcLight Capital Partners and the related financing. Leeward is a leading wind power asset owner, operator and developer of wind projects in the United States across 19 operating projects, many of which had tax equity structures in place, with a total installed capacity of 1.7 GW.