US duo lead on Grid's $3bn power station sale

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Mayer Brown have landed top roles on the $2.9bn (£1.5bn) sale of Ravenswood power station in New York by National Grid.

Skadden advised National Grid, fielding a team led by New York corporate partner Sheldon Adler and including Washington M&A partner Pankaj Sinha and New York banking partner Julia Czarniak.

Mayer Brown represented the acquirer, TransCanada, with Chicago-based corporate partner Marc Sperber leading the team. Also advising were fellow partners Mike Murray (corporate), Robert Gordon (real estate), Stu Rozen and Sean Scott (both bankruptcy).

Skadden has regularly advised National Grid in the US after initially working opposite the company when it acquired New England Electric System - then advised by Skadden. The firm advised National Grid on its acquisition of US energy rival KeySpan, which completed last summer. It took on Ravenswood through that acquisition but was forced to sell it by regulators.

Skadden lead partner Adler told Legal Week: "The deal is important to National Grid and it was interesting because the transaction is more complicated than a typical auction. This is because one of the units will continue to be subject to the existing lease financing and National Grid's interest in that unit will be transferred to TransCanada through a sub-lease arrangement."

Ravenswood is a 2,480-megawatt generating facility located in Queens, New York. It provides over 20% of New York City's electricity supply. In the UK, National Grid owns the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales. It also distributes gas to 11 million UK homes and businesses.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete by the summer.

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