Proximo Deals of the Year 2025: Live lessons

Proximo kicked off March by presenting its full year 2025 deal data. Market participants who have been paying attention will have spotted few surprises. The predictions that Proximo made in October 2025 were out by low single digits, in terms of both volumes and deal numbers, though volumes surprised a little on the upside and transactions on the downside.

A surge in large financings typically speaks to a bank market that is comfortable putting large amounts of capital to work in familiar sectors and jurisdictions - or that at least is afraid to cede ground in these domains to its competitors. But there are still opportunities for banks, sponsors and indeed governments to break new ground.

Proximo’s Deals of the Year can recognise the application of brute force - or brute balance sheets - to the hard work of building out necessary upgrades to the world’s infrastructure. But there are still chances to recognise the instances where banks and sponsors settled on new ways of allocating risk or streamlining financing processes.

The deals below show that the project finance market, for all the calls placed on its resources, is still a hotbed of creativity. It’s also clear that credit conditions were unusually balmy in 2025, despite the looming clouds in digital infrastructure and the Middle East. Sponsors were not generally rewarded for their strength in adversity in 2025. They may yet be in 2026.

Proximo Deals of the Year 2025

North America

Data centre - Stack Miner

STACK Infrastructure and Blue Owl put together the largest bank project financing ever for a data centre, for Oracle's 4.5GW Stargate campus in New Mexico. This four-strong development is just a fraction of Stargate's total capacity requirement, but proves that the bank market can deliver.

Power  - Wolf Summit

Blackstone's Kindle Energy capped its impressive run of success in financing new-build conventional power IPPs with the $1.2 billion Wolf Summit CCGT in West Virginia. The debt facility, led by a seven-strong bank group, featured an impressive sponsor-driven approach to managing construction risk.

Solar - Arevon Ratts 1 and Heirloom

Arevon made its debut accessing the tax equity and tax credit transfer market with the elegant and well-received financing for its Ratts 1 and Heirloom projects. The deal, featuring Meta as an offtaker, showcased best in class ESG processes and continues Arevon's remarkable record in US renewables.

Solar plus storage - Enfinity EG US Devco

Enfinity drew on a mixture of banks and infrastructure debt funds - from both Europe and the US - to increase its corporate development facility. The deal is flexible yet conservatively sized and structured to allow Enfinity to progress its early and mid stage developments.

Wind - Apex Lotus Wind

Apex Clean Energy kicked off a busy 2025 with the $550 million ECA-supported debt package for the 200MW Lotus wind farm in Illinois. The deal sets a template for backlevered wind financings in the post-IRA (and now post-OBBBA) US power landscape.

LNG - Port Arthur LNG 2

In September, Sempra closed two related transactions to facilitate the development of the second phase of its Port Arthur LNG project. This comprised a sale of a 45% stake in Sempra Infrastructure Partners to KKR and CPPIB and a sale of a 49% stake in the phase 2 project to Blackstone, KKR, Apollo and Goldman Sachs. Both sales, and construction of phase 2, were supported with bank and private placement debt.

Emerging energy - Bolt

Brookfield has raised $5 billion in bank debt to fund the deployment of Bloom Energy's fuel cell technology at AI-dedicated data centres. The venture is one of the boldest moves yet to tackle the power demands of the data centre industry.

Utility - Geronimo Power

The $1.86 billion financing for Brookfield's acquisition of National Grid's renewables assets frees up capital for National Grid's utility operations. But the four-tranche deal also allows for the continued expansion of the asset base under Brookfield's ownership.

Project bond - MN8 US Solar and BESS MIS

MN8 Energy built on the existing master indenture structure to refinance three projects and tee up future refinancings in 2026 and 2027. Improvements include greater permitted merchant exposure and keener management of interest rate risk.

Transport - SR 400 Peach Partners

Meridiam, Acciona and ACS put together a combination of PAB and TIFIA debt to fund their $11 billion SR400 P3 in Georgia. It is a reminder of the liquidity available to roads sponsors in the US, and a real boost to PPP in both Georgia and the US more widely.

Roads - Transurban Chesapeake

Transurban used a first of its kind toll road holdco financing to fund an expansion of its network in the Washington DC area. As US toll road P3s reach maturity, the structure will have considerable appeal as a source of funding for incremental development.

Rail - Brightline West

Brightline has established a reputation for bold financing initiatives with its Florida operations, but its development of a wholly greenfield high-speed line in Nevada and California set yet another benchmark. This combination of grants and PABs allows Brightline to continue to keep the dream of US high-speed rail alive. 

Leisure - Miami Freedom Park

David Beckham, Jorge Mas, and infrastructure finance stalwart Ares combined to assemble a financing package for a new stadium, sports and entertainment district around the Inter Miami soccer team. The financing is a landmark for US Major League Soccer, and provides an influential public-private development template.

Fiber - Metronet

ABS is an established financing tool in the US fibre market, but the bank-to-bond structure for T Mobile and KKR's acquisition of Metronet made a giant leap in size and sophistication. The four bond issues allow T Mobile to keep up the momentum in its rapid US expansion, building on its acquisitions of US Cellular and Lumos.

Latin America

Emerging energy - Aliança Energia

GIP's acquisition of Vale's renewable generation assets is a landmark for decarbonisation in Brazil's mining sector. The holding company bank financing drew on GIP's existing strengths in Latin American power development and highlights the opportunities for miners to outsource their power needs.

Renewables - AES Pacifico

AES put in place a $1.2 billion financing programme for its Pacifico portfolio in Chile that made a meaningful contribution to the country's decarbonisation. The three deals achieved keen pricing and maintained AES' position as a top-tier Latin American power sponsor.

Roads - Aburrá-Oriente Tunnel

The refinancing of the Aburrá-Oriente Tunnel in Colombia comprised a seven-tranche debt package that was as ambitious as the tunnel's technical profile. Local banks put up a mixture of fixed-rate and inflation-linked debt, alongside a facility from FDN.

Airports - Montego Bay Airport

This securitisation of revenues at Sangster International Airport showed how governments can enhance the credit of essential infrastructure issuers without breaking their balance sheets. This keenly-priced long-dated issue provides a study in how governments can monetise transport assets and still retain substantial control.

Oil & gas - VMOS

The financing for the Vaca Muerta oil pipeline is the largest commercial bank financing ever for an infrastructure project in Argentina. It shows that the RIGI investment promotion framework can overcome lender and investor doubts about the country's creditworthiness.

Mining - Minera Los Pelambres Water Infrastructure Project

The refinancing of the desalination operations at Antofagasta's Los Pelambres copper mine combined a bank facility and long-dated private placement, and showed the benefits to mining companies of ring-fencing their water assets. The deal provides a stable capital structure for assets that are crucial to making Antofagasta more sustainable.

Water - Aegea Blue Bond

Aegea's $750 million 144A note issue is the largest corporate blue bond ever, and was three times oversubscribed. It marked Aegea's first ever ten-year bond issue, and its largest international issue ever.

Refinancing - Saavi Energia

Saavi Energia's $1.1 billion debut bond issue is the largest Latin American holdco bond and the largest high-yield issue for a regional power issuer. The deal rolled up the GIP-owned generator's project-level debt, and was priced around the uncertainty in debt markets caused by US tariff proposals.

Europe

Water - HARP

The financing for the Haweswater aqueduct transcended the UK water sector's woes with a new model - direct procurement for customers (DPC) - that addresses commercial, regulatory and construction risks. The proof of its success came from the large group of commercial banks and institutional lenders that participated in the deal.            

Onshore wind   - OX2 Honkakangas & Rajamaenkyla

OX2 followed its acquisition by EQT with Finland's largest wind financing ever. The 15-year debt package for the Honkakangas & Rajamaenkyla assets combined ECA and bank debt, managing the complexity of being spread across two projects.

Storage - Thorpe Marsh BESS

Thorpe Marsh is the largest BESS project ever in the UK, and its financing includes both project company and holding company investment. EIG is a repeat winner, first for its West Burton conventional power refinancing, and now for its Fidra spin-off.

Emerging energy - Lionheart Lithium

Vulcan combines ECA, DFI and covered commercial bank debt for an unprecedented combination lithium mining and geothermal energy project. It is the latest proof that Europe's governments are willing to put capital to work to support the continent's energy transition.

Offshore wind - East Anglia THREE

The European offshore wind market picked up sharply in 2025, and East Anglia THREE stood out by combining ECA and commercial bank debt on its financing, and government support and a tech company offtake on its revenue model. In a crowded field, its financing and development model moved the market forward.      

Roads - Antalya-Alanya Motorway

Limak breathed new life into the Turkish infrastructure market, by closing a sustainability-linked project finance loan for its Antalya-Alanya motorway PPP. The financing package attracted support from DFIs, a sovereign wealth fund and local and regional commercial banks.

Rail - LusoLAV

Lusolav is Portugal's largest ever PPP, its first ever high-speed rail PPP, and its first PPP featuring a mezzanine facility. Despite its size and complexity, it attracted commitments from a diverse group of bank and institutional lenders, and provided real impetus to Portugal's transport ambitions.

Digital infrastructure - Vantage Stellar2

Vantage used the first ever Euro-denominated ABS transaction to refinance four German data centres with hyperscaler offtakers. The deal frees up capital to support Vantage's expansion in EMEA, and opens up a new funding source for the European digital infrastructure sector.

Multisourcing - Baltyk 2 and 3

Baltyk II and III moves forward Poland's promising offshore wind market, with the combined two phases representing one of the country's largest deals to date. The deal featured a diverse group of commercial, ECA and DFI lenders and is also one of the largest uses to date of KUKE's energy transition guarantee.

Middle East & Africa

Digital infrastructure - Raxio

The additional financing for Raxio's tier III colocation data centre platform focused on Sub-Saharan Africa is the IFC's largest digital infrastructure financing in the continent. It included both senior and mezzanine facilities, navigating the issues created by operating in multiple frontier markets.

Power - Rumah 2 and Al Nairyah 2 CCGTs

A group of regional lenders provided TAQA, JERA and AlBawani with the largest project financing for conventional power assets to close in 2025. While it funds the development of CCGT capacity, it is designed to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil in power generation, with a fleet of modern CCUS-ready power plants.

Portfolio - Aksa Energy

This flexible AFC-provided facility provides funding for Aksa's roll-out of conventional power capacity across Africa.

Water - Stream Water Transmission Company

Water deals in Saudi Arabia are growing in size and complexity, and the financing for the Jubail–Buraydah independent water transmission pipeline project was structured to appeal both to Islamic and conventional finance markets. It also featured a market-busting equity bridge loan for sponsors Aljomaih, Buhur and Nesma.

Renewables - ACWA/PIF/SAPCO PV Portfolio

Even by Saudi standards, the $8.2 billion financing for a 15GW solar portfolio developed by ACWA, PIF's Badeel and Saudi Aramco's SAPCO was market-leading. It confirmed both the Saudi market's liquidity and the credibility of Saudi Arabia's decarbonisation plans.

Asia-Pacific

Digital infrastructure - DayOne Johor

This financing broke records for the Asian data centre market, the Malaysian Islamic finance market and developer DayOne Data Centers. It opens up a crucial new funding route for capital hungry data centre developers.

Renewables - Central West Orana

The Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone financing is the first application of the REZ concept in New South Wales, and involves applying PPP-style concepts to Australia's transmission sector. The Acciona, Cobra and Endeavour Energy scheme proves that the structure can facilitate the deployment of capital at scale.

Power - Cenergo Jizzakh

Turkey's Cengiz Enerji leveraged its existing asset base in Uzbekistan and its relationships with German exporters and lenders to build out the 550MW Jizzakh CCGT project. The hydrogen-ready project points to a greener outlook for power generation in Central Asia.

Emerging energy - BlueCurrent Smart Meters

Australasian smart meter operator BlueCurrent closed a dual-currency Climate Bonds-certified green loan to support the expansion of its business in its home markets.

Mining - Zenith Energy           

Zenith Energy consolidated its position as one of Australia's leading IPPs, and readied itself for a sale to KKR, with a bumper A$1.9 billion financing. The deal positioned it to offer ever-larger carbon-free power generation services to its clients in the resources sector.

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