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About Catherine
Cathy has extensive experience advising public utilities and competitive energy issuers on securities offerings. She represents issuers, underwriters and institutional investors in the full range of debt, equity and hybrid securities offerings by such issuers, including offerings of first mortgage and collateral trust bonds, green bonds, unsecured notes, tax-exempt debt, debt for projects, high-yield debt, equity units, "put" securities and common and preferred equity. Her practice involves substantial utility mortgage and indenture work, asset-based finance, general corporate counseling, advice as to disclosure and compliance under the federal securities laws and corporate and financial restructuring advice. She also represents energy and utility companies in commercial lending transactions.
Cathy has advised initial purchasers and lenders providing "exit financing" to an investor-owned utility emerging from bankruptcy proceedings; advised investor-owned utilities on corporate and financial restructuring matters in connection with electric industry deregulation and disaggregation; advised utility companies as to "ring-fencing," and represented a distressed utility in an out-of-court financial restructuring.
Cathy is ranked Band 1 in Energy: Electricity (Finance) in both Chambers Global (2019-2024) and Chambers USA (2019-2023). “Catherine is a top-notch industry expert. She is up to date on all existing and new issues in the industry.” "She is very detail-oriented and a great problem solver." (Chambers USA, 2023). A commentator added Cathy is “a pleasure to work with and deeply experienced in this area” (Chambers USA, 2021). She has also been recognized by The Legal 500 United States for Project Finance (2019) and Energy: Renewable/Alternative Power (2019). Cathy is a fellow and former trustee of the American College of Investment Counsel, as well as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Experience
Recent Notable Matters
DTE Energy Company — underwriters’ counsel in offering of $800 million of senior notes
DTE Electric Company — underwriters’ counsel in offering of $1.2 billion of first mortgage bonds
PPL Electric Utilities Corporation — offering of $1.35 billion of first mortgage bonds
Kentucky Utilities Company and Louisville Gas and Electric Company — offering of $400 million of Kentucky Utilities’ first mortgage bonds and offering of $400 million of LG&E first mortgage bonds
PPL Electric Utilities Corporation, Kentucky Utilities Company and Louisville Gas and Electric Company — represented PPL Electric, as a borrower in a $250 million term loan, and represented each of Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electric as borrower under separate $300 million term loans
DTE Energy Company — represented the remarketing agents in a remarketing of $1.3 billion of DTE Energy Company senior notes; the senior notes were originally issued as components of DTE Energy equity units in order to fund the acquisition by DTE of midstream assets
Evergy Missouri West, Inc. — purchasers’ counsel in $500 million private placement of senior notes
DTE Electric Company — underwriters’ counsel in offerings of over $2.5 billion of “green” bonds, including DTE Electric’s 2018 offering, which was among the first wave of offerings in the United States by an investor-owned utility to specifically support "green" investments
PPL Electric Utilities Corporation — offerings of $900 million of floating rate first mortgage bonds
DTE Energy Company — underwriters’ counsel in offering of $230 million of junior subordinated debentures
Duquesne Light Holdings, Inc. — initial purchasers’ counsel in 144A offering of $350 million of senior notes
Darden Restaurants, Inc. — underwriters’ counsel in offering of 9,000,000 shares of common stock
PPL Capital Funding Inc. and PPL Corporation — $400 million in multiple term loans to PPL Capital Funding Inc., as borrower, and PPL Corporation, as guarantor
PPL Electric Utilities Corporation — $400 million first mortgage bond offering
PPL Electric Utilities — $223.75 million tax-exempt bond offering
DTE Electric Company — underwriters’ counsel in two offerings of $1.7 billion of mortgage bonds
DTE Energy Company — underwriters’ counsel in offering of $2.4 billion of securities, including equity units, common stock and senior notes, to fund the acquisition of midstream natural gas assets
DTE Gas Company — represent purchasers in four separate private placements of $945 million aggregate amount of first mortgage bonds
DTE Energy — underwriters counsel in offering of $675 million of equity units and $1 billion of senior notes to fund purchase of midstream natural gas gathering assets,* and remarketing agents’ counsel in subsequent remarketing of notes that were components of equity units
Darden Restaurants, Inc. — underwriters' counsel in $500 million senior notes offering to fund purchase of Cheddar’s Restaurant Holding Corp.*
PPL Corporation, Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Kentucky Utilities Company and LG&E and KU Energy, LLC — $2.9 billion Rule 144A/Reg. S offerings of secured and unsecured debt, including preparation of two new utility mortgage bond indentures in connection with PPL Corporation's acquisition of Kentucky utility subsidiaries and holding company, and subsequent registered offerings of more than $2 billion of first mortgage bonds and senior notes*
PPL Energy Plus LLC and affiliates — $800 million secured energy trading facility to provide credit support for trading operations*
Dealer managers — tender for senior notes of Darden Restaurants, Inc.*
DTE Electric Company and DTE Gas Company — represent purchasers in private placements of over $2 billion of bonds*
Darden Restaurants, Inc. — designated purchasers’ counsel in private placement of $300 million of senior notes*
PPL Capital Funding Inc. — represent issuer in $500 million junior subordinated debenture offering*
* Work completed prior to Bracewell