Hunton Andrews Kurth Assists EGCO in a Successful Investment in the 1.8­ Gigawatt LNG-Fired Paju Power Facility in South Korea

Bangkok-based lawyers on the energy and infrastructure team, with assistance from our Dubai office, advised Thailand's Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO) on the approximately US$800 million cross-border acquisition, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Gen Plus B.V., of a 49 percent ownership interest in South Korea's Paju Energy Service Co., Ltd. (Paju ES) from SK E&S Co., Ltd. (SK E&S). Paju ES owns and operates the 2 x 911.5-megawatt combined-cycle LNG-fired Paju power facility in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The Paju power facility commenced operation in February 2017.

EGCO, Thailand's first independent power producer, currently operates 26 power plants with a total equity contracted capacity of 4,260 MW in five countries across the Asia Pacific region — Thailand, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. The acquisition of the Paju power facility increased EGCO's total equity contracted capacity to 5,153 MW.

SK E&S is the energy investment arm of SK Holdings Co., Ltd., which is the listed holding company of SK Group, one of the largest conglomerates (chaebol) in Korea. Following the sale to EGCO, SK E&S will retain a 51 percent ownership interest in Paju ES.

Hunton Andrews Kurth assisted EGCO since the inception of the transaction in March 2018 —from the competitive bidding stage to legal due diligence, acquisition financing, and finalization of the transaction documents until successful completion on January 15, 2019, including negotiations, signing and closing in Seoul of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, the Shareholders Agreement and all other definitive transaction documents.

The firm's team was led by Bangkok-based partners Edward B. Koehler and Chumbhot Plangtrakul, with support from Dubai-based partner Patricia Tiller, who advised on LNG issues, alongside US-qualified associate Christopher Huong, Thai-qualified associates Peerasanti Somritutai and Jitranut Narkmai, senior energy specialist Nicholas J. Altstadt and lawyer assistants Thaphanut Vimolkej and Chavisa Jinanarong.