Dynda A. Thomas leads the firm’s Corporate Transactions, Finance & Governance Practice Group and has extensive experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and project finance. She has had principal responsibility for numerous energy-related project finance transactions and for mergers, acquisitions and dispositions for public and private companies in a wide range of sell-side and buy-side auctions and negotiated transactions. Ms. Thomas has had leading roles in structuring, negotiating and implementing transactions for electric generating plants, airports, sports facilities and commercial centers. She focuses on leading multidisciplinary teams in strategic planning, contract and financial analysis and the preparation and negotiation of documents for these transactions.

Ms. Thomas is a vice chair of the Infrastructure Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions Committee and co-chair of the Newsletter Committee of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Public Utility, Communications and Transportation (PUCAT) Law Section. Ms. Thomas is also the liaison of the ABA’s PUCAT Law Section to the ABA’s Commission on Women in the Profession, and the ABA Journal. She is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Ms. Thomas is listed in the 2010 edition of Legal 500 US for her mergers and acquisitions practice and in 2007 was named a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She was recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer in the 2010 edition of Law & Politics magazine.

Representative Experience

• US$1.23 billion sale/leaseback of utility lessees’ interests in a coal-fired electric generating plant.
• Issuance of more than US$2 billion of secured lease obligation bonds related to coal-fired and nuclear generating facilities and subsequent debt tenders relating to the nuclear generating facilities.
• US$600 million nuclear fuel lease financing and subsequent refinancing.
• Redemption of US$947 million in public debt and in the overall debt restructuring for an existing sale/leaseback transaction by two operating utilities.
• US$700 million in privately placed debt and in US$450 million exchange offer transactions by utility issuers in single transaction.
• US$150 million of securitization of customer receivables for a utility issuer.
• Development and finance of a US$109 million ethanol biorefinery facility in Ohio.
• US$246 million financing of prepayment for electric power by certain Ohio schools.
• US$119 million financing of prepayment for electric power by certain Ohio schools.
• Multiple representations of prospective purchasers in various auction bid processes for gas-fired and coal-fired electric generation facilities and renewable generation facilities.
• US$265 million purchase of a 500-megawatt power gas-fired, electric generating plant in Texas.
• US$55 million acquisition of transmission and distribution business in Ohio.
• US$329 million sale of a Spanish power project company.
• US$177 million sale of a Puerto Rico-based power plant.
• US$210 million sale of US and European wind power generation business.