Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Sullivan & Cromwell have taken the lead on a $2.8bn (£1.4bn) project financing deal in the Gulf.

Milbank advised a consortium of lenders including BNP Paribas, Citi, ING, Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale, while Sullivan acted for the project's sponsors.

The Yemen liquified natural gas (LNG) plant will be Yemen's first LNG terminal and the deal saw France's Total leading the consortium of sponsors signing the financing agreement.

Milbank's European managing partner, Phillip Fletcher, led the team for the banks, acting alongside project finance partners John Dewar and Cathy Marsh in London. Local legal matters were dealt with by Alwazir Consultants.

Sullivan acted for Yemen LNG and its sponsors, which include Hunt Oil, Yemen Gas, SKCorp and Hyundai, in addition to Total. The firm's co-head of Europe, Middle East and Africa project development and finance, Stewart Robertson, led the team.

Fletcher told Legal Week: "To bring a major project like this to a close in the midst of a credit crunch shows that well structured projects can access the financial markets."

Robertson added: "As the first LNG project in Yemen, the deal presented a series of fascinating challenges. This success is a tribute to the commitment not only of YLNG, its sponsors and the Government of Yemen, but also of the export credit agencies and commercial banks, which recognised the fundamental strength of the project notwithstanding difficult credit market conditions."

In August last year projects teams from both firms advised on one of the largest-ever mining deals in Madagascar, worth $3.3bn (£1.68bn).