Westbourne Capital led a $700 million term loan for Limetree Bay Ventures as part of a $1.25 billion financing to restart the company’s refinery in Limetree Bay, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
The financing also included $550 million of preferred equity led by funds and accounts managed by EIG Global Energy Partners, which was joined by other investors including funds affiliated with BlackRock and Barclays.
The common equity in Limetree Bay is owned by affiliates of ArcLight Capital Partners, Freepoint Commodities and a leading sovereign wealth fund, with ArcLight making a significant additional common equity commitment to Limetree Bay in conjunction with the financing.
The company is undertaking the refinery project in conjunction with the tolling, supply and offtake agreements that it executed with BP Products North America earlier this month.
“The closing of the financing provides the resources necessary to complete the refinery restart,” said Brian Lever, president of Limetree Bay Refining. “We have 1,300 workers currently involved in the project and expect a significant ramp in activity over the coming months as we prepare for restart by the end of next year. We are very grateful to the broad team that has made this possible.”
Barclays acted as lead placement agent and EIG Global Energy Partners Capital Markets as co-placement agent on the preferred equity issuance by Limetree Bay. Goldman Sachs Bank and Barclays acted as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners on the term loan issuance.
Limetree Bay Ventures owns idled refinery equipment with peak processing capacity totaling 650,000 barrels per day, approximately 34 million barrels of storage capacity and a deepwater port. The company continues to make significant investments to revitalize the St. Croix facility as an environmentally-compliant, multi-purpose energy center.
