Raquel Bierzwinsky

Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

New York
United States
T:+1 212 408 5219
New York
United States
T:+1 212 408 5219
Raquel Bierzwinsky

Raquel Bierzwinsky

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Biography

Raquel Bierzwinsky advises clients in the areas of project development and finance, international finance and mergers & acquisitions, with a particular emphasis in the US and Latin America. Raquel represents project developers, sponsors, commercial lenders, investment funds and multilateral and bilateral agencies in the structuring and negotiation of complex, multijurisdictional energy, infrastructure and mining project financings, corporate financings, as well as in acquisitions and dispositions of projects.

Raquel is admitted to practice law in Mexico and New York State.

Professional experience

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  • LLM, New York University School of Law, 2000
  • Law Degree, with honors, Universidad Iberoamericana AC, 1999
  • Mexico Bar
  • New York State Bar
  • Represented Matrix Renewables in the bridge loan finance, tax equity financing and construction-term loan financing of the 105 MWac solar plus 80 MWh energy storage Gaskell West 2 and 3 projects located in Kern County, California.
  • Representing the lenders in the financing of the 80 MWac Terranova solar PV project in Chihuahua, Mexico.
  • Represented ING Bank N.V. as lender and issuing bank, and ING Capital LLC, as sole coordinating lead arranger, in the financing of the 30 MW Kin/Kambul ground-mounted solar photovoltaic generating facility located in Yucatán, Mexico, and its ancillary facilities.
  • Represented the lender in the proposed financing of a 56.4 MW merchant wind and battery storage generation facility located near La Paz, Baja California.
  • Represented AES Mexico Generation Holdings in the refinancing and bond offering of the TEG and TEP petroleum coke-fired 230 MW circulating fluidized bed power plants.
  • Represented the lenders in the financing to MITSUI and MODEC for the acquisition, conversion and operation of a FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading) unit chartered to a Mexican subsidiary of ENI International for the production of oil & gas in offshore Mexico.
  • Represented Kansai Electric Power Co. in the acquisition of a 48.5% interest in the 525 MW Aviator Wind project located in Coke County, Texas and negotiation of joint venture agreements to govern the construction and operation of the project. Upon the start of commercial operation, Aviator will be the largest single-phase wind project in ERCOT.
  • Represented Enel Green Power S.p.A., on the sale of 80 percent of the share capital of a Mexican holding company that indirectly owns a portfolio of eight renewable energy projects with a total generating capacity of 1.7 GW to Canadian institutional investor Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec and the investment vehicle of the leading Mexican pension funds CKD Infraestructura México S.A. de C.V. The transaction, being conducted using an innovative Build, Sell and Operate model, is worth US$1.35 billion (with an enterprise value of the Holdco of US$2.6 billion).
  • Represented Osisko Gold Royalties in the acquisition from Gerald Mining of the San Antonio mining project in Sonora, Mexico.
  • Represented Red Kite Finance in the financing of the Bacanora lithium mine in Sonora, Mexico.
  • Representied Red Kite Finance in the financing to SilverCrest Metals of the Las Chispas gold and silver project located northeast of Sonora, Mexico.
  • Represented IDB Invest, MUFG Bank and Spain's ICO in the financings of the 92 MW Conejos Solar Project, the 70 MW Guanajuato Solar Project and the 81 MW Xoxocotla Solar Project. All three solar projects are located in Mexico and are being developed by X-Elio Energy.
  • Represented IDB Invest, Bancomext and ING in the financing of the 250 MWp Navojoa solar plant located in Sonora, Mexico, under development by X-Elio Energy.
  • Representing a French developer in the development and financing of a 379 MWp solar PV power plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
  • Represented I Squared Capital Advisors, LLC in their US$1.2 billion acquisition of a portfolio of hydroelectric and natural gas generation plants, transmission infrastructure and natural gas processing facilities, totaling 2,300 MW in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador and Argentina from Duke Energy Corporation.
  • Represented BayWa R.E. in the sale to EDP Renewables of 100% of the equity interests in Parque Solar Los Cuervos S. de R.L. de C.V., a project company that is developing and constructing an approximately 200 MW solar generation facility located in the municipality of Aguascalientes in Mexico.
  • Represented the lenders in the proposed financing of a 250 MW solar PV project in the State of Puebla, Mexico.
  • Represented Ormat International in connection with the US$42 million senior debt refinancing of the 20 MW Amatitlán geothermal power project in Guatemala.
  • Represented Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch and Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., New York Branch, in the US$92 million financing of the Vientos de Pastorale wind project located in Flores, Uruguay.
  • Represented the lenders on the US$290 million financing of the Block Island Wind Farm, the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States.
  • Represented the Inter-American Development Bank in connection with the long-term refinancing of the 50 MW Jacinta Solar photovoltaic solar power station located in Salto, Uruguay.
  • Represented the lenders, DNB Group, Agencia en Chile and Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., New York Branch, in connection with the short-term financing of the 50 MW Jacinta Solar photovoltaic solar power station located in Salto, Uruguay.
  • Represented the lenders, including the Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Bancode Crédito Inversiones S.A., Banco del Estado de Chile, Banco Itaú Chile, CorpBanca, DNB Bank ASA and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH on the project financing of the 531 MW Alto Maipo hydroelectric power project in Chile, sponsored by AES Gener S.A. and Antofagasta plc. The total financing represents US$1.217 billion of the approximately US$2.05 billion construction costs. The deal was awarded the 2013 "Latin America Power Deal of the Year" award by Project Finance International.
  • Represented Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund in the financing of the approximately 30 MW San Rafael hydroelectric power project in the state of Nayarit, Mexico.
  • Represented North American Development Bank and Banco Mercantil del Norte, S.A. (Banorte), as lenders, in connection with a cross-border financing to Compañía Eólica de Tamaulipas, S.A. de C.V. (CETSA) for a 54 MW wind project in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The project is the first-ever bank-funded wind project in northern Mexico.
  • Represented Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund and Macquarie Capital Advisers on the development and US$693 million debt financing of a 396 MW wind farm in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The project was awarded the 2012 Latin America Wind Deal of the Year award by Project Finance magazine.
  • Represented Société de Promotion et de Participation Pour la Cooperation Economique (PROPARCO) and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO), as mezzanine lenders, in respect of the financing of T-Solar's 22 MW GTS Majes and 22 MW GTS Repartición thin-film solar photovoltaic projects in southern Peru. The deal was awarded 2011 Latin America Renewables Deal of the Year Award by Project Finance magazine.
  • Represented Corporación Andina de Fomento and a group of commercial banks in connection with a US$239 million A/B loan project financing for the construction and operation of a soybean crushing facility and associated co-generation plant in Argentina. The sponsors of the project are Glencore International, Molinos Río de la Plata and Vicentin.
  • Represented a sponsor in the financing of a combined wind and solar power project in Mohave, Arizona.
  • Represented Corporación Andina de Fomento, FMO, Inter-American Development bank and Banco Internacional del Perú (Interbank) as senior lenders in connection with a US$150 million limited-recourse financing for development of a greenfield ethanol project on the northern coast of Peru consisting of a 7,800 hectare sugarcane plantation to provide sugarcane feedstock to the project, an ethanol distillery with capacity to produce up to 35 million gallons of ethanol per year and a 37 MW power plant to supply all of project's power needs. The deal was named 2010 Latin America Biofuels Deal of the Year by Project Finance magazine.
  • Represented the International Finance Corporation and a syndicate of commercial banks in the financing of the Buenaventura port project in Colombia.
  • Represented Foster Wheeler in the restructuring of its ownership interests in, and the proposed expansion and refinancing of, a cogeneration and delayed coker facility in Chile.
  • Represented a power generation company in its acquisition and related financing of a 271 MW combined-cycle gas fired plant in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and a 252.4 MW combined-cycle, gas and diesel fired plant in the state of Campeche, Mexico.
  • Represented a power generation company in connection with its bid to acquire five power plants in Mexico from EDF.
  • Represented a global independent power generation company in a US$3.4 billion leveraged recapitalization and refinancing transaction.
  • Represented the lenders in respect of a term loan conversion for a 120 MW gas fired simple cycle power generation facility in the state of California.
  • Represented the sellers in connection with the sale of controlling interests in fixed and mobile phone companies in Nicaragua and Honduras to América Móvil.
  • Represented Ormat International in connection with the acquisition, development and financing of the 38 MWe GeoPlatanares geothermal project in Honduras.
  • Represented Matrix Renewables in the bridge, construction and term financing, tax equity investment and tax credit transfer arrangements for the 210-MWac / 281-MWdc Stillhouse solar PV facility, in Bell County, Texas.
  • Represented Matrix Renewables in the bridge, construction and term financing of the 200 MW Pleasant Valley Solar project located in Ada County, Utah and the sale of production tax credits to Erie Indemnity Company and Eire Insurance Exchange, as coordinated by Stonehenge Capital, LLC, as servicer of the tax credits.
  • Represented Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure in a loan to Solariant Holdings for the development of 15 solar, BESS and solar+BESS projects throughout the United States.
  • Represented Matrix Renewables in an acquisition and joint venture with SolarStone Partners for the purpose of jointly developing a 4.6 GW utility scale solar energy portfolio across the central United States.
  • Chambers Global, Latin America-wide, Project Finance, Chambers and Partners, 2020 – 2021, 2024 - 2025
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Leading partner, International Firms: Projects and Energy, The Legal 500, 2023-2025
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Lawyer, Mexico: Energy and Natural Resources, The Legal 500, 2022 – 2025
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Lawyer, International Firms: Banking and Finance, The Legal 500, 2018 –2025
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Lawyer, International Firms: Projects and Energy, The Legal 500, 2018 – 2023
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Lawyer, International Firms: Corporate and M&A, The Legal 500, 2023
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Lawyer, Mexico: Projects and Infrastructure, The Legal 500, 2022 – 2023
  • Legal 500 US, Recommended Lawyer, Energy transactions: Electric power, The Legal 500, 2023
  • Chambers Latin America, Latin America-wide, Projects, Chambers and Partners, 2020
  • The Best Lawyers in Mexico, Energy Law, Best Lawyers, 2023
  • The Best Lawyers in Mexico, Project Finance and Development Practice, Best Lawyers, 2023
  • Private Practice Powerlist: US-Mexico, The Legal 500, 2017 – 2019
  • IFLR1000 – United States, Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, 2018 – 2021
  • Member, New York State Bar Association
  • English
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish

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