R. Thomas Hoffmann
Partner
R. Thomas (Tom) Hoffmann is a partner and business lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Finance Practice and the Energy Sector. Tom and Foley’s Finance Team represent more than half of the perennial leading lenders to the U.S. renewable energy industry. Tom focuses his practice on energy industry financing transactions, project development investments, and acquisitions of project portfolios.
Tom frequently represents lenders, developers, and investors in the development and financing of projects, including solar, wind, and biomass as well as gas and cogeneration projects. Tom has also represented electric utilities in various transactions as well as private purchasers and sellers of electric power assets. He has pioneered many of the cutting-edge mechanisms in project finance for renewable energy, including “unitranche” financing structures in solar construction loans, equipment loans, upper tier development loans, and portfolio HoldCo acquisition and term loans.
Representative Experience
- Represented more than a dozen lenders in solar/storage portfolio loans, for construction and term debt in financings ranging from US$100m to US$350m. He has also represented borrowers for acquisition and term loans for solar portfolios, which have ranged as large at 80 projects in a single portfolio.
- Under Tom’s leadership Foley is known for creating efficient diligence procedures and “screening” mechanisms that meet lender needs but allow borrowers to avoid overly repetitive, excessive diligence.
- Led lender legal teams for numerous utility-scale financings, recently in states as diverse as North Carolina, Illinois, California, Texas, and Arizona. The Foley teams have earned a reputation for early issue-spotting to avoid late-stage barriers to closings.
- Recently advised on the structure of several different HoldCo development loans, including borrowers within various locations in organizational charts.
- Worked on (and led lender-side legal teams in) the majority of the unitranche financings in the renewable finance market. These deals included both construction-only and construction to term, and novel take-out arrangements.
- Represented numerous lenders in negotiations with tax equity syndicators, helping to shape the market for credit support from upper tier investors.
Awards and Recognition
- Recognized by Chambers® USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the practice area of Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy (2012-2024)
- The Legal 500 (2012-2023)