Veronica Relea has significant experience representing project developers and lenders in highly structured and complex finance transactions in the United States and Latin America.
Veronica represents commercial and investment banks, sponsors, developers, and private equity firms in connection with the development, construction, operation, and financing of energy, oil and gas, and infrastructure projects. She also has extensive experience in leveraged finance transactions, including acquisition financings, asset-based facilities, private equity transactions, mezzanine facilities and cross-border financings.
Veronica has developed a robust Latin America practice, advising Clients on a range of complex finance transactions. Her seasoned guidance on banking and finance matters has earned recognition from Latinvex, as one of Latin America's top 100 female lawyers (2017-2024).
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Veronica is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese and French.
Related Experience
- Represented BlackRock in a $607 million acquisition and subsequent leaseback by Pemex Transformacion Industrial, a subsidiary of Pemex, of the Ultra-Low Sulphur Gasoline (ULSG) assets attached to its refinery located in Madero, Mexico (one of the more significant investments by private equity in the Mexican energy sector post reforms).
- Represented ArcLight Capital Partners in a joint venture with Blackstone involving the $2.1 billion acquisition of power generation assets in Ohio and Indiana from American Electric Power (AEP).
- Represented Energy Capital Partners, and a consortium of investors, in the $5.6 billion all-cash bid to acquire Calpine Corporation, a Houston-based wholesale power generation company.
- Represented ArcLight Capital Partners and Limetree Bay Terminals, LLC (LBT) in connection with a $440 million term loan financing relating to LBT's acquisition of a large-scale storage terminal, refinery and marine facility in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (formerly owned by HOVENSA).
- Represented Panda Sherman Power, LLC in its $360 million refinancing by Beal Bank in support of the Panda Sherman Energy Center, a combined-cycle, natural gas-fired generating facility located in Texas.
- Represented Crédit Agricole and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in a $350 million senior secured asset-based financing relating to the construction, ownership and leasing of certain vessels and fluvial equipment in Colombia (winner of the "Syndicated Loan Deal of the Year" 2015 by LatinFinance).
- Represented Andes Mining and Energy in connection with several credit facilities for the development of several energy projects in Chile including the Octopus LNG project
- Represented Credit Suisse as agent and arranger in a $250 million term loan facility for a privately held ash management company.
- Represented Summit Partners and Riverstone Credit Partners in a $100 million term loan financing for White Stallion Energy, LLC in connection with its acquisition of two coal mining companies.
- Represented Energy Capital Partners and Summit Midstream Partners Holdings in connection with the $300 million project financing related to a portfolio of midstream energy infrastructure assets in five resource basins in Ohio, West Virginia, Colorado, North Dakota and Texas.
- Represented Mizuho Bank in a $275 million financing of the Jumbo Road Wind Project, part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy's renewable energy portfolio, an approximately 300-MW wind project located in Texas.
- Represented Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in connection with a $350 million letter of credit facility for Cameron LNG, LLC, owner of natural gas liquefaction facilities in Louisiana.
Awards & Community
Named one of "Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers" by Latinvex, 2017-2024
Recognized by Yahoo Finance's OUTstanding Campaign as one of "50 Ally Executives" for her efforts to drive "positive change in the office" and support LGBTQ+ colleagues, 2019
Named "Attorney of the Year" by the Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA), 2019
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School 2004
B.A., Economics & International Studies, Yale University 2001summa cum laude
Admission & Affiliations
New York State Bar