Haynes and Boone represented Panda throughout the development, as sole counsel, and in the final project financing as co-counsel in a complex $188 million debt financing of its 100 million gallon-per-year ethanol facility employing novel technology in Hereford, Texas. As noted by Project Finance magazine in its presentation of the recent Ethanol Deal of the Year Award, this was “a technologically compelling project coupled to a mix of all of the new sources of debt finance - banks, municipal finance and hedge funds.” Senior debt financing consisted of a $158.1 million senior secured credit facility which includes a $5 million working capital facility and a letter of credit supporting $50 million in tax-exempt bonds that were issued by the Red River Authority of Texas. Additionally, the project financing included a $30 million subordinated debt credit facility. Panda Ethanol’s facility in Hereford, Texas, is the largest manure-fueled ethanol project in the United States and is expected to process 1 billion pounds of cow manure annually to generate the steam necessary to turn corn into ethanol.
Panda Ethanol, Inc.
Participating Lawyers
