Akin Advises Purchaser of California Gas-Fired Power Project

(Los Angeles) – Akin Gump, in collaboration with Southwest Generation Operating Company, LLC and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, advised a group of institutional investors in acquiring a 100 percent interest in the Pio Pico Energy Center, a 322-MW simple cycle gas-fired power facility located in Otay Mesa, California, that began operations in November. The seller was a fund managed by the Ares EIF Group, which developed, financed and constructed the Pio Pico facility. The capacity and energy generated by the project is committed to San Diego Gas & Electric under a 25-year power purchase and tolling agreement.

The Akin Gump team advising the purchaser and Southwest Generation Operating Company was led by Dino Barajas and Vladimir Fet, partner and senior counsel, respectively, in the firm’s cross-border transactions practice. They were joined by the following individuals:

• Rachel Ramos, associate (cross-border transactions)
• Chip Cannon, partner; Scott Johnson, counsel; and Vera Neinast, senior counsel (energy regulation, markets and enforcement)
• David Quigley and Paul Gutermann, partners; and Andrew Oelz, senior counsel (environment and natural resources)
• Tony Salandra, partner; and Daniel Shlomi and Alex Agahzadeh, associates (real estate)
• Howard Jacobson and Joshua Williams, partners; and James Maynor and Ryan Dahan, associates (tax).

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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