T&C and Mayer Brown advised NDB Bank on financing in Brazil

Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown in São Paulo and Mayer Brown International LLP in London advised the New Development Bank (NDB) on a financing agreement with Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz (CPFL) for RMB 1,425,000,000.00 (approximately USD 200 million).

The transaction represents NDB’s first non-sovereign loan in Brazil’s electricity sector and CPFL’s first RMB-denominated transaction, diversifying its funding sources and reinforcing NDB’s commitment to expanding local currency operations. In addition, CPFL became the first company financed by Chinese capital in Brazil to obtain financing from the New Development Bank.

The NDB is a multilateral development bank created by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which form the BRICS, to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries. Egypt, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates recently joined the bank. So far, the NDB has approved financing totaling USD 39 billion for 120 projects, most of them sovereign loans.

The loan funds will be used to expand and modernize CPFL’s energy distribution infrastructure, promoting greater efficiency and expanding access to electricity to new households, thus contributing to the goal of universal access to energy in Brazil. This project will boost economic and social development by enabling new connections to the electricity grid, with an estimated impact of bringing electricity to more than 370,000 future homes and businesses in the state of São Paulo over the next few years.

In addition, by reducing technical losses in the electricity distribution network, the project will increase energy efficiency and generate savings for end consumers. In this way, it will contribute significantly to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Mayer Brown’s London office relied on partner Ashley McDermott and associate James England, from the Banking and Finance practice. And from São Paulo office, the operation was led by partner Eduardo Alves Lima (pictured) with the participation of associate Beatriz Lavigne, both from the Banking and Finance practice.