Allen & Overy expands Project Finance and Renewables practice with group acquisition; to open West Coast office

The Team will maintain its presence in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., co-led by partners Dan Sinaiko (CA) and John Marciano (D.C.) and joined by partners Greg Lavigne (NY), Matthew Nesburn (CA), Andrea Wang Lucan (CA) and Sam Kamyans (D.C.) and a large group of associates and counsel. As part of the expansion, A&O will open a West Coast office located in Los Angeles.

Over the last 20 years the Allen & Overy global Projects, Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure team has consolidated its position as the leading legal adviser in the sector, consistently closing more transactions than any other law firm in that time. In 2020, the A&O practice led both the IJGlobal and Dealogic ProjectWare league tables by deal volume. Chambers Global ranked the firm Band 1 in both Projects and Energy, and Projects and Energy: Power in 2020.

Gareth Price, global managing partner, commented: “The accelerating transition of the world’s energy infrastructure to a low carbon future creates opportunities for many of our developer and capital provider clients. A&O has long advised on some of the largest and most innovative global energy and infrastructure projects and we are excited to be able to expand our U.S. based client and market coverage by bringing this team of exceptional partners to our firm.”

Kent Rowey, a partner in the global Projects, Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure practice, also commented on the expansion: “With this acquisition, A&O cements its status as the leading U.S. and global renewables practice with the right expertise to help clients pursue the global energy transition. We are thrilled to welcome this Chambers-ranked renewable energy team to A&O, and we look forward to enhancing our client offerings through this expansion.”

John Marciano added, “This is the most significant law firm combination in the U.S. renewables legal sector. We are excited to merge our practice with the largest global project finance team. As the industry matures, the sources of capital have globalized. This combination will be a great resource for clients looking to source and deploy that capital.”

The Team has been actively involved in most of the market-leading renewable energy transactions in the U.S. over the past decade. These span project and company M&A, joint ventures, tax equity, cash equity, and debt financings. The Team was recognized as Best Legal Adviser – Tax Equity at IJGlobal’s IJInvestor Awards 2020. Their client roster includes private equity and infrastructure funds, global banks and independent power producers.

The Team focuses on meaningful transactions with established and emerging entities, asset classes and risks. The Team has led many recognized transactions in recent years, including the L?wa’i solar and energy storage project in Hawaii, the first solar plus storage peaker plant in the world; the Holstein 1 solar project in Texas, one of the first solar hedge deals to reach financial close in the U.S. market; and the Sweihan solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Abu Dhabi, which is currently the world’s largest solar PV plant.

Beyond the complementary client relationships that the Team brings to A&O, its partners also offer a versatile range of skills aligned with A&O’s strategy to offer full service transactional capabilities to clients in a single team. The Team includes market leading tax, commercial and legal advisory counsel critical to domestic renewable energy project work.

The recruitment of a prominent team in a thriving sector with strength on both the East and West Coasts creates compelling opportunities for the firm’s expansion in the United States beyond renewables.

“California has obvious attractions in connection with renewables, but the opportunity is far wider. It is a legal market of enormous importance and, of course, central to advancing technological change. The last year has reinforced our commitment to attracting talent in the key practices we are looking to build to serve our clients without a rigid attachment to location or physical offices. California has a deep pool of talent and demand from existing and future clients. This is a great development for the firm in the United States and globally,” said Tim House, U.S. senior partner.

For further information, please contact Meredith Bishop in New York at pro-a&o@prosek.com.