British Energy Enters into Credit Agreement with HMG

U.K.-based British Energy Plc entered into a credit agreement, on September 9, 2002, with the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (HMG) in order to obtain interim financial support and to enable a longer term solvent restructuring. Ontario limited partnership, Bruce Power L.P., 82.4 per cent owned by British Energy, was a borrower under the facility. The £410 million HMG credit agreement was intended to provide working capital for British Energy’s immediate financial requirements and to allow the company time to stabilize position in the U.K. and North America. HMG agreed to extend and amend the HMG credit agreement for up to £650 million on September 26, 2002, and again on November 28, 2002.

British Energy’s legal team was led by in-house counsel John Young, working with Bruce general counsel Brian Armstrong. British Energy and Bruce Power were represented by Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, with a team led by David McFadden (corporate, energy and strategic planning), Paul Harricks, Myron Dzulynsky and Kelly Murray (corporate and energy) and Michael Anderson (corporate and financial services), Peter Carayiannis and Bernadette Corpuz (energy trading) and Rachel Conway (financial services). In the U.K., British Energy was represented by Peter Kilner, Matthew Truman, James Hardy, Richard Sharples and Peter Yam of Clifford Chance LLP, and in the U.S. by Brian Chisling and Ross Hallock of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York.

In Canada, HMG was represented by Stikeman Elliott LLP with a team consisting of Philip Henderson, Daniel Thomson, Lisa McDowell, Kara McLaren, Jason Kroft and Jason Brock (corporate), John Dow and Andrew Elliott (real estate) and David Brown and Jim Harbell (regulatory). In the U.K., HMG was represented by Slaughter and May with a team consisting of Charles Randell, Ian Hodgson, Helen Griffiths, Sharmin Takin, Jenny Selvidge, Ruchit Sheth, Rommel Harding-Farrenberg and Martin Bishop.