CaixaBank S A : strengthens its presence in the US energy sector through the participation in the largest project finance operation this year

Plaquemines LNG Project (USA)

• The bank acts for the first time as an underwriting bank for a project finance operation in the world's largest economy.

• The financing for the construction and operation of Plaquemines LNG, a natural gas liquefaction plant launched by the American producer Venture Global LNG, amounts to $13.2 bn, $625m of which will be underwritten by CaixaBank and will include project finance and other related credit facilities.

• CaixaBank has been present in the United States since 2015, when it opened its representative office in the city of New York. Since then, it has participated in 35 project financing operations in the energy sector.

CaixaBank acted as an underwriting bank in the project finance operation that involves constructing and operating the natural gas liquefaction plant Plaquemines LNG, launched by Venture Global LNG, a leading natural gas company in the United States. The operation is the largest project finance operation in the US this year to date. It has been closed for an amount of $13.2bn, $625m of which will be underwritten by CaixaBank, including project finance and other related credit facilities.

With the Plaquemines LNG project, CaixaBank continues to strengthen its presence and activity in the energy sector in the United States, where it has been operating since 2015, when it first opened its representative office in the city of New York. It also marks the first time that CaixaBank has acted as an underwriting bank for a project finance operation in the country, reinforcing its growing presence and experience in financing projects in the world's largest economy.

The Plaquemines LNG plant will cover an area of 2.5 square kilometres (632 acres) in Plaquemines Parish (Louisiana, USA), 30 kilometres south of New Orleans. When fully operational, the plant will have the capacity to export up to 20 million metric tonnes a year, making it a geostrategic project representing an increase in export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe and Asia. This will result in the diversification and the increased security of the worldwide gas supply chain.

It is the second project by the American producer Venture Global LNG in which CaixaBank is participating. In 2019, the bank acted as Senior Management Agent in the financing of the liquefied gas plant Calcasieu Pass LNG, an operation amounting to $7.3bn.

CaixaBank in the United States

CaixaBank has been present in the United States since 2015, when it opened its representative office in the city of New York. The office focuses on foreign trade and corporate and structured financing. Infrastructure, energy, food and aeronautics are the main sectors of activity of the New York branch. In North America CaixaBank also operates a representative office in Toronto in Canada, opened in 2018, when it became the only Spanish bank with physical presence in this country.

Since 2015, CaixaBank has participated in 35 project financing operations in the energy sector in the United States. These include the liquefied gas plant Calcasieu Pass LNG, by Venture Global (2019); onshore wind plants Traverse Wind (2021), by Invernergy (2021); offshore wind plant Vineyard Wind (2021), by CIP and a North American subsidiary of Iberdrola; and solar power plants with battery storage Blythe Solar I and Blythe 110, by Nextera Energy (2021).

CaixaBank's international presence

CaixaBank is operates globally through its International Banking network of branches and representative offices and through cooperation agreements with leading international banks. It also owns Portugal's Banco BPI, the fourth largest financial institution in Portugal in terms of assets.

CaixaBank's international network offers support to the bank's business customers that operate abroad, as well as to local corporates, thanks to its global outreach with over 180 professionals, close to 30 international service points and agreements with more than 1,660 correspondent banks.

CaixaBank's International Banking network comprises branches in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Morocco and Poland; two Spanish Desk teams in Austria's Erste Bank in Vienna and Mexico's Inbursa in Mexico City; 18 representative offices on 5 continents; and two branches in Portugal that report to the Equities & Corporate Finance Area within the CIB & International Banking Division.

CaixaBank's International Banking network is the only AENOR-certified international banking network in Spain.