EX-5.1 2 ny20022010x1_ex5-1.htm EXHIBIT 5.1
Exhibit 5.1

 
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom llp
 ONE MANHATTAN WEST
 NEW YORK, NY 10001
________
 
TEL: (212) 735-3000
 FAX: (212) 735-2000
 www.skadden.com
 
 












 
March 1, 2024
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New Fortress Energy Inc.
111 W. 19th Street, 8th Floor
New York, New York 10011

 
RE:
 New Fortress Energy Inc.
 
 
 Registration Statement on Form S-3
 
Ladies and Gentlemen:
 
We have acted as special United States counsel to New Fortress Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the registration statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration Statement”) to be filed on the date hereof by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). The Registration Statement relates to the issuance and sale by the Company from time to time, pursuant to Rule 415 of the General Rules and Regulations of the Commission promulgated under the Securities Act (the “Rules and Regulations”), of (i) shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (the “Class A Common Stock”); (ii) shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (“Preferred Stock”), which may be issued in one or more series; (iii) depositary receipts (the “Receipts”) representing fractional shares of Preferred Stock, which are called depositary shares (the “Depositary Shares”) and which may be issued pursuant to one or more depositary agreements (each, a “Depositary Agreement”) proposed to be entered into between the Company and one or more bank or trust companies to be named in the applicable Depositary Agreement (each, a “Bank Depositary”); (iv) debt securities of the Company (“Debt Securities”), which may be issued in one or more series under an indenture (the “Indenture”) proposed to be entered into by the Company and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association (as successor trustee to U.S. Bank Trust Company), the form of which is filed by reference as an exhibit to the Registration Statement; (v) warrants to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock, shares of Preferred Stock or Debt Securities (“Warrants”), which may be issued pursuant to one or more warrant agreements (each, a “Warrant Agreement”) proposed to be entered into by the Company and one or more warrant agents to be named therein; and (vi) such indeterminate number of shares of Class A Common Stock, Preferred Stock or Depositary Shares and indeterminate amount of Debt Securities as may be issued upon conversion, exchange or exercise, as applicable, of any Preferred Stock, Depositary Shares, Debt Securities or Warrants, including such Class A Common Stock or Preferred Stock as may be issued pursuant to anti-dilution adjustments determined at the time of offering (collectively, “Indeterminate Securities”). The Registration Statement also relates to the sale from time to time of (a) up to 708,092 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “RSU Secondary Shares”) issuable upon settlement of certain restricted stock units (the “RSUs”) outstanding under the Company’s Amended and Restated New Fortress Energy Inc. 2019 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) and (b) 113,962,880 additional shares of Class A Common Stock (the “Other Secondary Shares,” and together with the RSU Secondary Shares, the “Secondary Shares”) in each case on behalf of the Company’s shareholders (the “Selling Stockholders”). The Class A Common Stock, Preferred Stock, Depositary Shares, Debt Securities, Warrants, Indeterminate Securities and Secondary Shares offered pursuant to the Registration Statement are collectively referred to herein as the “Securities.”
 
New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 2

This opinion is being furnished in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act.
 
In rendering the opinions stated herein, we have examined and relied upon the following:
 
(a)          the Registration Statement;
 
(b)          the form of Indenture incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Registration Statement;
 
(c)          an executed copy of a certificate of Cameron D. MacDougall, Secretary of the Company, dated the date hereof (the “Secretary’s Certificate”);
 
(d)          the Plan;
 
(e)          a copy of the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) certified by the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware as of March 1, 2024, and certified pursuant to the Secretary’s Certificate;
 
(f)          a copy of the Company’s bylaws, adopted as of August 3, 2020 and effective as of August 7, 2020 dated as of August 7, 2020 (the “Bylaws”), certified pursuant to the Secretary’s Certificate;
 
(g)          a copy of the Company’s Certificate of Conversion, filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on August 3, 2020, certified pursuant to the Secretary’s Certificate;
 
(h)          a copy of certain resolutions of the Board of Directors of New Fortress Energy LLC adopted on July 30, 2020, certified pursuant to the Secretary’s Certificate;
 
(i)          a copy of certain resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company adopted on August 7, 2020, certified pursuant to the Secretary’s Certificate;

New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 3

(j)          a copy of the Form of Director Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement Under the Amended and Restated New Fortress Energy Inc. 2019 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Director RSU Award Agreement”); and
 
(k)          a copy of the Form of Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement Under the Amended and Restated New Fortress Energy Inc. 2019 Omnibus Incentive Plan (together with the Director RSU Award Agreement, the “Award Agreements”).
 
We have also examined originals or copies, certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of such records of the Company and the Selling Stockholders and such agreements, certificates and receipts of public officials, certificates of officers or other representatives of the Company and the Selling Stockholders and others, and such other documents as we have deemed necessary or appropriate as a basis for the opinions stated below.

In our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, including electronic signatures, the legal capacity and competency of all natural persons, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as facsimile, electronic, certified or photocopied copies, and the authenticity of the originals of such copies. As to any facts relevant to the opinions stated herein that we did not independently establish or verify, we have relied upon statements and representations of officers and other representatives of the Company and the Selling Stockholders and others and of public officials, including those in the Secretary’s Certificate.
 
We do not express any opinion with respect to the laws of any jurisdiction other than (i) the laws of the State of New York and (ii) the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) (all of the foregoing being referred to as “Opined-on Law”).
 
As used herein, “Transaction Documents” means the Plan, the Award Agreements, the Depositary Agreements, the Indenture and the supplemental indentures and officer’s certificates establishing the terms of the Debt Securities pursuant thereto, the Warrant Agreements and any applicable underwriting or purchase agreement.

The opinions stated in paragraphs 1 through 7 below presume that all of the following (collectively, the “general conditions”) shall have occurred prior to the issuance of the Securities referred to therein: (i) the Registration Statement, as finally amended (including all necessary post-effective amendments), has become effective under the Securities Act; (ii) an appropriate prospectus supplement or term sheet with respect to such Securities has been prepared, delivered and filed in compliance with the Securities Act and the applicable Rules and Regulations; (iii) the applicable Transaction Documents have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the other parties thereto, including, if such Securities are to be sold or otherwise distributed pursuant to a firm commitment underwritten offering, the underwriting agreement or purchase agreement with respect thereto; (iv) the Board of Directors of the Company, including any duly authorized committee thereof, has taken all necessary corporate action to approve the issuance and sale of such Securities and related matters and appropriate officers of the Company have taken all related action as directed by or under the direction of the Board of Directors of the Company; and (v) the terms of the applicable Transaction Documents and the issuance and sale of such Securities have been duly established in conformity with the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws so as not to violate any applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, or result in a default under or breach of any agreement or instrument binding upon the Company, and so as to comply with any requirement or restriction imposed by any court or governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company.
 
New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 4

Based upon the foregoing and subject to the qualifications and assumptions stated herein, we are of the opinion that:
 
1.           With respect to any shares of Class A Common Stock offered by the Company, including any Indeterminate Securities constituting Class A Common Stock (the “Offered Class A Common Stock”), when (a) the general conditions shall have been satisfied and (b) the Offered Class A Common Stock are registered in the Company’s share registry and delivered upon payment of the agreed-upon consideration therefor, the shares of Offered Class A Common Stock, when issued and sold or otherwise distributed in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Transaction Documents, will be duly authorized by all requisite corporate action on the part of the Company under the DGCL and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, provided that the consideration therefor is not less than $0.01 per share of Class A Common Stock.
 
2.          When delivered in accordance with the Plan and applicable award agreement, the RSU Secondary Shares being sold by the Selling Stockholders will be duly authorized by all requisite corporate action on the part of the Company under the DGCL and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
 
3.          The Other Secondary Shares have been duly authorized by all requisite corporate action on the part of the Company under the DGCL and have been validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable.
 
4.          With respect to the shares of any series of Preferred Stock offered by the Company, including any Indeterminate Securities constituting Preferred Stock of such series (the “Offered Preferred Stock”), when (a) the general conditions shall have been satisfied, (b) the terms of the Offered Preferred Stock and of their issuance and sale have been duly established by the Board of Directors in conformity with the Certificate of Incorporation, the Bylaws and the DGCL, and (c) the Offered Preferred Stock are registered in the Company’s share registry and delivered upon payment of the agreed-upon consideration therefor, the Offered Preferred Stock, when issued and sold or otherwise distributed in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Transaction Documents, will be duly authorized by all requisite corporate action on the part of the Company under the DGCL and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, provided that the consideration therefor is not less than $0.01 per share of Offered Preferred Share.

New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 5

5.          With respect to any Depositary Shares offered by the Company, including any Indeterminate Securities constituting Depositary Shares (the “Offered Depositary Shares”), when (a) the general conditions shall have been satisfied, (b) the Preferred Stock relating to such Offered Depositary Shares has been duly authorized for issuance by the Company; (c) the Offered Depositary Shares have been duly executed, delivered, countersigned, issued and sold in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Depositary Agreement, and the Offered Depositary Shares have been delivered to the Bank Depositary for deposit in accordance with the applicable Depositary Agreement; and (d) the Receipts evidencing the Depositary Shares have been duly issued against deposit of the related shares of Preferred Stock with the Bank Depositary in accordance with the applicable Depositary Agreement, the Offered Depositary Shares evidenced by the Receipts will entitle the registered holder thereof to the rights specified in the Depositary Agreement.
 
6.          With respect to any series of Debt Securities offered by the Company, including any Indeterminate Securities constituting Debt Securities of such series (the “Offered Debt Securities”), when (a) the general conditions shall have been satisfied, (b) the Indenture has been qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, (c) the issuance, sale and terms of the Offered Debt Securities and related matters have been approved and established in conformity with the applicable Transaction Documents and (d) the certificates evidencing the Offered Debt Securities have been issued in a form that complies with the provisions of the applicable Transaction Documents and have been duly executed and authenticated in accordance with the provisions of the Indenture and any other applicable Transaction Documents and issued and sold or otherwise distributed in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Transaction Documents upon payment of the agreed-upon consideration therefor, the Offered Debt Securities will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms under the laws of the State of New York.
 
7.          With respect to any Warrants offered by the Company (the “Offered Warrants”), when (a) the general conditions shall have been satisfied, (b) the Class A Common Stock, Preferred Stock and/or Debt Securities for which the Offered Warrants are exercisable have been duly authorized for issuance by the Company and (c) certificates evidencing the Offered Warrants have been duly executed, delivered and countersigned in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Warrant Agreement, the Offered Warrants, when issued and sold or otherwise distributed in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Transaction Document upon payment of the agreed-upon consideration therefor, will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms under the laws of the State of New York.
 
The opinions stated herein are subject to the following qualifications:
 
(a)          we do not express any opinion with respect to the effect on the opinions stated herein of any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, fraudulent transfer, preference and other similar laws or governmental orders affecting creditors’ rights generally, and the opinions stated herein are limited by such laws and orders and by general principles of equity (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in equity or at law);
 
New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 6

(b)          we do not express any opinion with respect to any law, rule or regulation that is applicable to any party to any of the Transaction Documents or the transactions contemplated thereby solely because such law, rule or regulation is part of a regulatory regime applicable to any such party or any of its affiliates as a result of the specific assets or business operations of such party or such affiliates;
 
(c)          except to the extent expressly stated in the opinions contained herein, we have assumed that each of the Transaction Documents constitutes the valid and binding obligation of each party to such Transaction Document, enforceable against such party in accordance with its terms;
 
(d)          we do not express any opinion with respect to the enforceability of any provision contained in any Transaction Document relating to any indemnification, contribution, non-reliance, exculpation, release, limitation or exclusion of remedies, waiver or other provisions having similar effect that may be contrary to public policy or violative of federal or state securities laws, rules or regulations, or to the extent any such provision purports to, or has the effect of, waiving or altering any statute of limitations;
 
(e)          we do not express any opinion with respect to the enforceability of any provision of any Transaction Document to the extent that such section purports to bind any party to the exclusive jurisdiction of any particular federal court or courts;
 
(f)          we call to your attention that irrespective of the agreement of the parties to any Transaction Document, a court may decline to hear a case on grounds of forum non conveniens or other doctrine limiting the availability of such court as a forum for resolution of disputes; in addition, we call to your attention that we do not express any opinion with respect to the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts of the United States of America in any action arising out of or relating to any Transaction Document;
 
(g)          we have assumed that any agent of service will have accepted appointment as agent to receive service of process and call to your attention that we do not express any opinion if and to the extent such agent shall resign such appointment; further, we do not express any opinion with respect to the irrevocability of the designation of such agent to receive service of process;
 
(h)          we have assumed that the choice of New York law to govern the Indenture and any supplemental indenture thereto is a valid and legal provision;
 
(i)          we have assumed that the laws of the State of New York will be chosen to govern any Depositary Agreements and Warrant Agreements and that such choice is and will be a valid and legal provision;
 
(j)          we have assumed that the Indenture will be duly authorized, executed and delivered by the trustee in substantially the form reviewed by us; and

(k)          to the extent that any opinion relates to the enforceability of the choice of New York law and choice of New York forum provisions contained in any Transaction Document, the opinions stated herein are subject to the qualification that such enforceability may be subject to, in each case, (i) the exceptions and limitations in New York General Obligations Law sections 5-1401 and 5-1402 and (ii) principles of comity and constitutionality.
 
New Fortress Energy Inc.
March 1, 2024
Page 7

In addition, in rendering the foregoing opinions we have assumed that:
 
(a)          neither the execution and delivery by the Company of the Transaction Documents nor the performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder, including the issuance and sale of the applicable Securities: (i) constitutes or will constitute a violation of, or a default under, any lease, indenture, agreement or other instrument to which the Company or its property is subject, (ii) contravenes or will contravene any order or decree of any governmental authority to which the Company or its property is subject, or (iii) violates or will violate any law, rule or regulation to which the Company or its property is subject (except that we do not make the assumption set forth in this clause (iii) with respect to the Opined-on Law);
 
(b)          neither the execution and delivery by the Company of the Transaction Documents to which the Company is a party nor the performance by the Company of its obligations thereunder, including the issuance and sale of the applicable Securities, requires or will require the consent, approval, licensing or authorization of, or any filing, recording or registration with, any governmental authority under any law, rule or regulation of any jurisdiction;
 
(c)          with respect to our opinion set forth in paragraphs 2 and 3 above, the Secondary Shares have been registered in the Company’s share registry;
 
(d)          with respect to our opinion set forth in paragraph 2 above, we have assumed that each award agreement under which restricted stock units are granted pursuant to the Plan were granted consistent with the Plan and the Award Agreements; and
 
(e)          with respect to our opinion set forth in paragraph 3 above, (i) the Company received in full the consideration for the Other Secondary Shares set forth in the applicable resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company approving the issuance of all such Other Secondary Shares, and (ii) the issuance of the Other Secondary Shares did not violate or conflict with any agreement or instrument binding on the Company (except that we do not make this assumption with respect to the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws or those agreements or instruments expressed to be governed by the laws of the State of New York which are listed in Part II of the Registration Statement or the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023).
 
We hereby consent to the reference to our firm under the heading “Legal Matters” in the prospectus forming part of the Registration Statement. We also hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the Rules and Regulations. This opinion is expressed as of the date hereof unless otherwise expressly stated, and we disclaim any undertaking to advise you of any subsequent changes in the facts stated or assumed herein or of any subsequent changes in applicable laws.
 
 
 
Very truly yours,
 
 
 
MJS
 
/s/ Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP