The infrastructure community came together last night in the glorious Guastavino’s to celebrate the successes of 2023 at the IJGlobal Awards.

Many of the guests had come direct from the IJ LatAm conference in Miami which had been the resounding success it always is.

They came to Guastavino’s to hear who had been shortlisted and won for achievements in the North American greenfield and refinance arena for infrastructure and energy deals closed in the last calendar year.

These awards are debated – based on submissions from across the industry – by an independent panel of industry experts, making the IJGlobal Awards what we believe to be the single most transparent and peer reviewed in this sector.

The North American transaction awards – the winner story can be accessed here – are chosen (again based on submissions) by the IJGlobal editorial team. You can read about the LatAm company winners and deal winners on these pages.

The winners announced last night are:

• Bond Arranger of the Year – Citi
• Corporate Trust Provider of the Year – Deutsche Bank
• Ratings Agency of the Year – Moody’s
• Technical Adviser of the Year – Arup
• Financial Adviser of the Year – Marathon Capital
• Legal Adviser of the Year, Energy – Kirkland & Ellis
• Legal Adviser of the Year, Infrastructure – Winston & Strawn
• MLA of the Year – MUFG
• Judges Choice Award – SMBC

Bond Arranger of the Year

Citi

Citi had an outstanding 2023 despite a volatile market environment in 2023 making it a clear winner for the judges as bond arranger of the year. It was able to demonstrate its ability to provide access to the capital markets through both large scale 144A / Reg S transactions as well as bespoke 4(a)(2) private placements.

One such private placement was Global Ports Holding and the close of US$330 million of senior secured notes. Citi was sole ratings adviser, sole structuring and placement agent, and security agent. Citi designed and delivered a strategy to re-debut GPH in the post-COVID era as an investment grade passenger transport infrastructure portfolio. In the process, the transaction unlocked access to long dated infrastructure capital with >8x opening net leverage and structural subordination.

As one judge said of Citi: “It gave a superb performance in a challenging market across multiple asset classes.”

Another judge said: “It was a great year for Citi.”

Another noteworthy transaction for which Citi successfully priced US$750mm of 4(a)(2) senior unsecured notes was the Nexus Gas Transmission transaction which is a 50/50 JV between Enbridge and DT Midstream. The multi-tranche financing consisted of an innovative, hybrid (corporate/project finance) structure.

Citi was also singled out for its role as book-running senior manager on a $2bn tax-exempt financing for the New Terminal One (NTO) JFK Airport issued through the New York Transportation Development Corporation. NTO’s inaugural $2billion series 2023 bonds will be used to refinance drawn bank debt and fund forward capital expenditures. Citi undertook a comprehensive marketing plan reaching both traditional and non-traditional investors.

All judges agreed that it was a “great year for Citi,” and its submission was a “well-documented entry representing depth and breadth of service offerings.”

Corporate Trust Provider of the Year

Deutsche Bank Trust and Agency Services

Another winning year for Deutsche Bank Trust and Agency Services (TAS), having supported 185 transactions totalling US$128bn+ across 30 countries. In North America, Deutsche Bank provided services to projects worth US$11.3bn serving sponsors from 6 countries.

Projects covered the full spectrum of assets across renewable energy (including wind and solar, battery storage, and renewable energy transmission), power (including gas-fired combined-cycle power plants), transport (including trains and airports logistics), infrastructure (including student housing and water treatment), midstream oil and gas (including LNG), and telecom sectors with a continued focus on sustainable finance.

For North America, it was identified as Corporate Trust Provider of the Year as one judge said: “It’s entry demonstrates the breadth and complexity of DB's trust business.”

A strong example of the corporate trust providers role was when Origis Energy one of the leading renewable energy and decarbonisation platforms in the US, selected Deutsche Bank TAS as collateral agent and depositary bank on a 3-year loan facility.

It also provided Broad Reach Power with support on a US$435 million credit facility in July 2023 for its utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) portfolio of 880MW and provided US$125 million in financing to Redaptive, an energy-as-a-service (EaaS) provider, to help accelerate the company's metering, HVAC, solar, LED, EV, and other efficiency and sustainability solutions.

Ratings Agency of the Year

Moody’s Investor Service

Moody’s was recognised by the independent panel of judges for its achievements as a global provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis.

As of 1 December 2023, Moody’s has rated over US$ 2.5 trillion of project and infrastructure finance (PIF) debt covering more than 1,000 publicly rated companies and transactions.

As one judge said: “This was a solid entry from Moody's” with another judge commenting that “It’s submission demonstrates clear success as a rating agency.”

The Moody’s submission states: “Our 2022 cyber heat map points to rising risks for many sectors, while mitigation and other defensive measures are also becoming more prevalent. We rank ordered the cyber risk exposure of 71 global sectors based on a scale of low, moderate, high or very high risk.

“Utilities, which include regulated and self-regulated electric utilities with generation, electric and gas transmission and distribution utilities, unregulated electric utilities and power companies and water and wastewater utilities, are scored as having very high cyber risk exposure.

“Our ESG scores provide greater transparency about how we incorporate ESG considerations into credit ratings. Credit impact score (CIS) is an output of the rating process that indicates the extent, if any, to which ESG factors impact the rating of an issuer or transaction.

Technical Adviser of the Year

Arup

Arup was singled out as Technical Adviser of the Year because as one judge put it: “It was a great year for Arup.” The adviser showcased its unique ability to blend profound technical knowledge with the nuanced financial and commercial insights brought by its specialist transaction teams.

Projects Arup worked on showcase multidisciplinary capabilities: the Nujio’qonik Green Hydrogen Plant (Phase One) pre-construction sale 20% Stake (with assets in Northeast Canada), the Enfinity Global Stake Sale (with assets throughout the continental United States), and the SEMCO Alaska Sale (with assets in the Cook Inlet in Alaska).

“One thing I admire about Arup's approach to being TA, is the fact that they provide unbiased opinion as opposed to repeating what the owners may want to hear,” said one judge.

Another judge said: “Arup’s entry shows diversity of experience across technically complex projects.”

Arup’s success is attributed to its tailored approach, assembling teams of sector-specific experts to understand and address the technical and commercial implications of each project and then develop a comprehensive understanding of how these may impact the business in the future.

Financial Adviser of the Year

Marathon Capital

The Financial Adviser of the Year for North America is Marathon Capital, having overcome a number of challenges including the inflation, higher capital costs, higher CofC and higher LCOE’s which took a toll on the markets with closings being postponed, re-trades occurring across the markets, valuations coming down with risks being put back towards sellers and a number of failed processes.

Despite this Marathon Capital was still able to successfully execute and close over 30 transactions in 2023 with an impressive pipeline of active engagements heading into 2024.

Judges said its submission “presented qualifications and project examples quite well”

The firm’s sole focus across the clean economy allows it to maintain active dialogues with key decision makers across financial sponsors, strategics, utilities, corporates and developers, empowering it to deliver innovative solutions to its clients.

Examples of Marathon Capital’s work includes representing Ashtrom Renewable Energy on the industry's first PTC tax credit transfer agreement under the Inflation Reduction Act. It also represented H Cycle in one of the industry's first Hydrogen deals for their Series A financing led by Azimuth Capital Management's new Azimuth V Energy Evolution Fund and ENEOS Innovation Partners. For WattEV, Marathon Capital leveraged its access to the cross-over of tech and infrastructure, financial and strategic investors to find the best suited capital for a heavy-duty EV charging company.

Legal Adviser of the Year, Energy

Kirkland & Ellis

Judges this year split the Legal Adviser of the Year North America into 2 categories, infrastructure and energy. This is because they felt that 2 firms had showcased particular expertise in both these areas and it was impossible just to pick the one winner.

Kirkland & Ellis was chosen as Legal Adviser of the Year, Energy for North America. As one judge put it: “K&E works with both the largest sponsors and lenders and handled over $100 billion of transactions during 2023. It was involved in the largest transactions in all sectors: LNG - Next Decade, Digital - CyrusOne, Power - Champlain Hudson, Renewables - Intersect Power and Vinyard Wind. Another noteworthy transaction is the Brookfield / Intel transaction.”

Another judge said K&E has a “broad asset footprint,” with another adding: “The large and complex deals are a testament to the faith their clients have in Kirkland's service.”

Over the last year, Kirkland has handled more than $100 billion in energy transactions. These representing; Global Infrastructure Partners in its investment in Rio Grande LNG’s $18.4 billion project financing; KKR and an acquiring consortium including Global Infrastructure Partners in the $15 billion acquisition of CyrusOne; Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in its $30 billion joint venture with Intel to fund Intel’s under-construction semiconductor fabrication facility in Chandler, Arizona; Blackstone Energy Partners III and Blackstone Capital Partners VIII and their portfolio companies Transmission Developers, TDI-USA Holdings and CHPE in the development and construction financing of the Champlain Hudson Power Express; and Vineyard Wind in the raising of $2.3 billion to create the first US commercial-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.

Legal Adviser of the Year, Infrastructure

Winston & Strawn

Winston & Strawn emerged as the winner of Legal Adviser of the Year, Infrastructure for North America as judges thought the firm’s entry showed it had worked on a “a huge number of deals as well the size and scale of projects.”

Noteworthy transactions for Winston are acting as lenders counsel on the Vikings solar PV plus storage facility, which is among the first transactions to close under the IRA’s transferability provisions, and the first for utility-scale solar peaker projects and the Puerto Rico toll road P3, enabling the bankrupt Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority to emerge from the deal debt free.

Winston also acted as lenders counsel in connection with a credit facility to Boldyn Networks, the proceeds of which were used to expand the ubiquitous fibre network serving the New York City Subway.

One judge commented: “the firm had a good entry clearly addressing how client needs are met and challenges faced with a good set of transactions.”

Another said: “The Puerto Rico transaction was an immense lift. Sheer volume of deals completed is amazing!”

The firm is also committed to continued improvement underscored by investment in “new programmes, tools, service offerings, and best practices to help navigate the challenges and complexities impacting the delivery of our services and operation of our law firm,” according to its submission.

It recently created Winston Legal Solutions (WLS) in response to our clients’ need for a right-staffing model under which it can “deliver competitively priced services for routine, low-complexity legal work. WLS attorneys are Winston employees who work shoulder-to-shoulder with Winston case and transaction teams—giving them the added benefit of in-depth industry and client knowledge that third-party ALSPs are less likely to provide.”

MLA of the Year

MUFG

MUFG won MLA of the Year for North America having consecutively executed over 100 financings per annum, typically in a leading role as underwriter, arranger, and financial adviser.

The bank played a pivotal role in financing the infrastructure necessary to support modern life working on sectors including oil and gas, energy transition, energy security, and digitalisation.

One judge summed up MUFG’s reasons for winning: “MUFG acts as left lead and admin agent on many transactions across sectors. Key deals it worked on including as debt adviser on Rio Grande LNG – the largest LNG deal – and Initial CLA on the largest renewables deal SunZia. MUFG also executed smaller innovative ESG transactions as well such as the Jim Beam RNG financing where MUFG acted as sole underwriter.”

Judges were full of praises for MUFG, one said it was: “hard to beat MUFG,” while another said: “MUFG showed impact and success with a focus on energy but also its work in other asset classes.”

One judge succinctly said: “MUFG is a clear leader in this category.”

Judges Choice Award

SMBC

This year, judges felt strongly about another bank that should be singled out for its work across the energy and infrastructure markets for having closed over 40 deals in 2023 across all sectors and establishing itself as a true market leader in the digital sector.

SMBC was selected for the Judges Choice Award as they felt it is a “strong market leading business,” and gave “good examples like a data centre project as well as an LNG and solar deals.”

One judge said: “SMBC is always leading the pack with big tickets and unique deals!” Another added: “SMBC is another leader in this field.”

SMBC was involved in many value-added project financings and landmark deals as structuring bank and lender, as well as actively leading project bond issuances.

Most notable this year was SMBC’s continued push into the digital infrastructure sector, financing some of the most high-profile data centre, fibre and telecoms transactions with Tier 1 sponsors/developers.

Additionally, SMBC provided various new structures under the Inflation Reduction Act by the IRS which can be seen on Parliament Solar, one of the largest solar power projects in ERCOT which was underpinned by long-term contracts with investment grade counterparties.

Another noteworthy transaction for SMBC Port Arthur LNG Project.