The UUBO Banking and Finance team is pleased to have acted as Nigerian counsel to the lenders, including Rand Merchant Bank and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, in connection with the provision of secured loan facilities of about US$285 million to Bluecore Gas Infraco Limited.
BlueCore is a strategic partnership between investors focused on accelerating the development of gas and power infrastructure in Nigeria and West Africa. It brings together entities, one of which is a portfolio company of the Stanbic IBTC Infrastructure Growth Fund, with substantial investment and operational experience across gas pipelines, power generation and distribution, and renewable energy.
The facility was provided to finance Bluecore’s landmark acquisition of Glover Gas & Power B.V., the 100 per cent owner of Axxela Limited, one of Nigeria’s foremost private gas and power distribution platforms (the owner of Gaslink Nigeria limited among others).
This transaction represents a significant step forward in Nigeria’s private-sector gas and power market as part of the ongoing efforts to reduce gas flaring, enhance energy reliability and promote the commercialisation of gas.
UUBO advised on the bespoke funding solution provided by the lenders, which was instrumental in achieving a successful closing of the transaction within the compressed timelines.
The UUBO team was led by Banking and Finance Partner, Onyinye Okafor, with support from Managing Associate, Victor Samuel and Associates, Oluwatobi Akintayo, Iffy Nnabuenyi, Tobi Oladepo, and Adeyemi Akinyemi.