United States
Joe Stefano
PartnerHead, US Projects & Energy
Joseph Stefano and his team impress me. They are very responsive, give great advice with key business considerations in mind and are helpful and reasonable.
— Chambers and PartnersAbout
Joe Stefano has more than 25 years of experience representing sponsors, project companies, commercial banks, private credit providers, agents, and other transaction parties in connection with the full array of secured and unsecured financing structures, across a wide spectrum of industries.
He is the Head of our US Projects and Energy Finance Group and has particularly extensive experience with the financing of renewable energy, infrastructure (including for data centers and other digital infrastructure assets) and industrial projects and big-ticket asset acquisitions. He often acts on deals that involve financing or credit support provided by export credit, multi-lateral, or other government agencies (including the US Department of Energy). He also has significant experience working on leveraged, asset-based and receivable financings, as well as hybrid debt and equity/joint venture transactions and other special opportunities transactions.
Joe has negotiated, documented and closed a variety of bespoke or "first-of-its-kind" deal structures and his diverse client base has provided him with an invaluable 360-degree perspective on transactional issues.
Areas of FocusProjects and Project FinanceEnergy and Natural ResourcesRenewablesLeveraged Finance and Debt FinanceAsset-based LendingTransportPrivate EquityData Centers
Bar admissionsNew YorkNew Jersey
EXPERIENCE
- Represented a technology company in connection with the acquisition and financing (involving a finance lease structure) of US$30 billion worth of TPUs for installation and use in various AI col-location data centers throughout the US
- Represented the sponsors in connection with the US$615 million project financing of an approximately 943,628 square foot multi-building data center campus in Fredericksburg, VA, with an initial 264 megawatts of capacity leased to a hyperscale tenant
- Represented the sponsors in connection with the US$7.56 billion project financing by the Department of Energy for the development of two battery manufacturing facilities
- Represented the sponsor in connection with a US$1.66 billion project financing by the Department of Energy for the development and construction of six green hydrogen production facilities
- Represented the sponsors in connection with the US$550 million financing for the construction of a data center campus in Ashburn, VA, leased to a hyperscale tenant
- Represented the sponsors in connection with the financing for the US$1.1 billion development of seven carbon neutral build-to-suit data center projects partially pre-leased to a hyperscale tenant
- Represented the sponsor in connection with the project financing of an edge data center located in Elk Grove Village, IL
- Represented a private credit provider in connection with a US$880 million investment (through a mix of loans and convertible securities) to finance the construction of the world's first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer
- Represented the administrative agent in connection with the financing of a 200 megawatts/400 megawatts per hour Battery Energy Storage Project in Texas
- Represented the lenders in connection with five separate loan facilities financing, in the aggregate, US$6.5 billion of digital infrastructure equipment for a large US based telecommunications company
- Represented the mandated lead arranger and a syndicate of lenders in relation to a US$2 billion standby letter of credit facility for a leading infrastructure development company
- Represented the lenders in connection with three separate loan facilities financing, in the aggregate, US$2.5 billion of digital infrastructure equipment for a large US based telecommunications company
- Represented the administrative agent in connection with the financing of a Battery Energy Storage Project in California
- Represented the administrative agent in connection with a US$134 million loan financing for the construction of a solar photovoltaic system and a battery energy storage system located in California
- Represented the administrative agent in connection with a US$70 million bridge financing for the construction of a solar photovoltaic generating facility and a battery energy storage facility located New Mexico
- Represented the administrative agent in connection with a US$200 million Term Loan Facility, US$200 million Letter of Credit Facility and US$200 million Revolving Facility to in furtherance of supporting the ownership, development and construction of solar power generation, battery storage and wind power generation facilities
- Represented the consortium of developers in connection with a US$2.1 billion project financing, structured as a first of its kind receivables sale financing, for the Metro Line 3 Project in Panama
- Represented the lenders in connection with a US$1.3 billion facility for the modernization of an oil refinery located in Peru
- Represented the Administrative Agent and Indenture Trustee in connection with the restructuring of a US$400 million senior term loan facility and secured Notes indenture for a mining company
- Represented the sole structurer and arranger in connection with the first of its kind financing for Belize under the Blue Bonds for Conservation Program established by The Nature Conservancy with political risk insurance credit support provided by the Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
- Represented the mandated lead arranger and a syndicate of lenders in relation to a standby letter of credit facility for a developer of natural gas pipelines
- Represented the lenders in connection with a term facility and an Export Credit Agency (ECA) guaranteed facility in relation to the financing of the modernization of the Borrower's steel plate and pipe mill in Texas
- Represented the lead arrangers and lenders in connection with an ECA supported loan for the purpose of financing infrastructure equipment in connection the expansion of an existing pulp and paper mill in Brazil
- Represented the lenders in connection with the US$1 billion financing of digital infrastructure equipment for a large US based telecommunications company
- Represented the Agent in connection with a financing for the development of renewable natural gas sites in Ohio
- Represented the Agent and Indenture Trustee in connection with the US$4.5 billion financing of a petrochemical project in Mexico, and on the subsequent financing of the same project through a combination of a US$900 million senior bond offering, US$1.2 billion senior bond offering and a US$600 million term loan facility
- Represented a private credit provider in connection with a secured borrowing base facility for an automobile rental company
- Represented a club of private credit providers in connection with a multiple tranche US$2.5 billion facility, secured by the receivables payable under cable television contracts for a major league baseball team
- Represented a private credit provider in connection with a US$500 million subordinated borrowing base loan facility for a commercial finance company
- Represented a private credit provider in connection with a bilateral US$225 million secured credit facility for a leading luxury hotel management company
AWARDS
The Legal 500 United States
- Recommended, Project Finance, (2025)
- Recommended, Energy: Renewable/Alternative Power, (2024 – 2025)
Education
- J.D., Cornell Law School
- B.A., Rutgers University
Publications
- Co-author, "Project Finance 2025 Global Practice Guide: USA Chapter," Chambers and Partners
Connect
Phone
+1 212 335 4575
(Work, New York)