International firms - IFLR · International firms ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE Highly recommended...

INTERNATIONAL FIRMS LEAGUE TABLES

ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | SUB SAHARAN AFRICA 20138

International firmsENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTUREHighly recommended

Allen & OveryAshurstChadbourne & ParkeClifford ChanceHerbert Smith FreehillsHunton & WilliamsLinklatersNorton Rose Shearman & SterlingTrinity InternationalWhite & Case

RecommendedBaker BottsCleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonDentonsEvershedsFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerGide Loyrette NouelJones DayMilbank Tweed Hadley & McCloyKing & SpaldingOrrick Herrington & SutcliffeSlaughter and MayVinson & Elkins

NotableBaker & McKenzieBerwin Leighton PaisnerClyde & CoCMS DLA PiperCurtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & MosleFasken MartineauGreenberg TraurigHogan LovellsKing & Wood MallesonsLatham & WatkinsLawrence GrahamMayer Brown InternationalMcCarthy TetraultMcDermott Will & EmeryPinsent MasonsReed SmithSimmons & SimmonsSkadden Arps Slate Meagher & FlomStephenson HarwoodSullivan & CromwellWinston & StrawnWragge & Co

DISPUTESHighly recommendedShearman & Sterling

RecommendedAllen & OveryBredin PratCleary Gottlieb Steen & HamiltonClifford Chance Gide Loyrette NouelHerbert Smith FreehillsFreshfields Bruckhaus DeringerWhite & Case

NotableAshurstBaker & McKenzieBaker BottsChadbourne & ParkeClyde & CoCMSCurtis Mallet-Prevost Colte & MosleHogan LovellsHunton & WilliamsOrrick Herrington & SutcliffeSkadden Arps Meagher Slate & FlomStephenson HarwoodVinson & Elkins

LOCAL COUNSEL NETWORKS

Highly recommendedALN (Africa Legal Network)Lex Africa

RecommendedBowman Gilfillan Africa Group Miranda AllianceJW Ffooks & Co

NotableDLA Piper GroupENS Africa

INTERNATIONAL FIRMS FIRM BRIEFINGS

ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | SUB SAHARAN AFRICA 2013 9

Allen & Overy

Allen & Overy is recommended for everything related to project financeand banking but also clinched some of 2012’s biggest corporate mandates,such as Shell’s African downstream divestments. The firm works acrossthe continent and acts on all manner of energy and infrastructure trans-actions, particularly in power, renewables and infrastructure. The Paris of-fice has a strong practice in litigation and arbitration.

“I am very happy with A&O’s services. We engage Tim Scales’ team inParis regularly for Africa projects and we are not disappointed... greatdepth of team, very good marks on dedication. His team comes highlyrecommended for complex projects”, says a client.

A&O is active with International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA), throughwhich it has been working to develop the legal sector in Rwanda, and op-erates a rolling secondment programme with the Africa Legal Network(ALN). It works through an informal network of local counsel firms andhas its own regional intelligence unit, GLIU, which generates research ondevelopments on the ground.

MattersA&O’s dispute partners Michael Young and Erwan Poisson acted for Dan-gote Group in a number of disputes relating to shareholder rights, corpo-rate governance and land rights and in potential ICSID, UNICITRAL(Nigeria) and investor-state arbitrations.

A highlight corporate mandate saw Dominic Morris act for Shell onits $1 billion divestment from its downstream businesses across 14 Africancountries. The firm also negotiated oil & gas production sharing agree-ments in Mauritania and helped Jinchuan in its unsolicited bid for copperand cobalt producer Metorex.

Tim Scales and Shaun Beaton won instructions from the IFC andFMO on the expansion of the Takoradi 2 gas-fired power project in Ghanaand Lake Turkana Wind Company and Aldwych International on the de-velopment, financing and construction of the 300MW Lake Turkanawind farm in Kenya. Greg Brown also acted for banks on loans and debtcapital markets transactions, notably for Tonkolili Iron Ore Project inSierra Leone.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Coted’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali,Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal,Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Highlight clientsShell, Dangote Group, Jinchuan, IFC, Ecobank, AfricanDevelopment Bank

Key officesLondon, Paris, Perth, Dubai, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, AbuDhabi, Casablanca, New York

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, US

Key partnersShaun Beaton, Dominic Morris, Erwan Poisson, Tim Scales, MichaelYoung

IntroductionIt may come as no surprise to read that nearly all thepractitioners we spoke to have seen an increase of workrelated to energy and infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africaover the past five years and that a mini-trend within thishas been the increasing involvement of offices based in theMiddle East, Asia and Australia.

Paris and London remain the key legal intersections forAfrica projects for advisory, transactional and contentiouscases, although there is a significant amount of WorldBank and IFC sponsored work, project financing andcompliance matters coming out of the US.

Topics of discussion for industry figures in 2012 includeSouth Africa’s renewable energy programme and thenational power privatisation process in Nigeria, whichboth reached milestones in early 2013. Oil and gas findsin East Africa, particularly in Mozambique, also generatednumerous transactions, while one striking feature has beenthe development of megaprojects involving multipleinternational parties in which, for instance, a miningproject is conceived along with a transport infrastructureprogramme (roads, rail, ports) and its own powergenerating infrastructure.

Over and above the traditional fossil fuel projects therehave been some very notable developments in renewablesespecially in South Africa and Kenya, with the LakeTurkana Wind Farm, and in terms of ambitious multi-jurisdictional projects, such as the Ruzizi III hydropowerdam. On the arbitration side many partners are beginningto speculate about the possible role countries such asSouth Africa, Mauritius or Rwanda will play as centres forregional disputes where Mauritius and Rwanda, inparticular, have made a big push towards positioningthemselves as neutral arbitration hubs.



Ashurst

Ashurst gets great reviews from clients in the oil and gas space and inrenewable energy, especially in East Africa where it has recently beeninvolved in developing the wind energy sector. The firm has a non-ex-clusive alliance with the ALN and a fruitful relationship with Chinesefirm Guantao Law Firm. It is active in the ILFA programme and tooksecondees from 17 African countries in 2012.

“My experience with Ashurst has been fantastic, they are very goodat what they do and the service they provide,” says client from anAfrican government, recommending Peter Roberts and Geoffrey Pic-ton-Turbervill. They are “very good at capacity building with the clientand training”.

Ashurst “has been spectacular, can’t sing their praises enough,” saysanother client, “I have great respect for the way they do things and theyhave a first rate alternative energy practice”. Antony Skinner and MikeJ Smith (an ex-Siemens in-house) are highly praised for their PPA(power purchase agreements) and EPC expertise. Others praise MichelLequien and Cameron Smith: “very efficient, lots of experience on con-tracts... fast and always responsive even under stress”.

MattersAshurst was busy for Tullow Uganda, in one case acting in litigationagainst Heritage Oil over tax payments to the Ugandan governmentamounting to $314 million. The firm also appeared for Hercules Oilin ICC arbitration following withdrawal from a joint-venture agree-ment in Nigeria for the drilling of an oil well. Ronnie King and TomCummins played key roles.

Roberts was active advising on commercial contracts, again for TullowOil, in Ghana and Uganda, and for Angola LNG, while Robert Ogilvy-Watson led teams advising Chinese-state owned CGNPC Uranium Re-sources on its !708 million takeover of UK-listed Kalahari Minerals,along with a $2.6 billion financing for a uranium mining project inNamibia.

Roger Davies acted for Gold One International on the Australianaspects of its acquisition of Rand Uranium and subsequent majoritysale to a Chinese consortium. Meanwhile, Skinner, Smith and GeorgeMay were embroiled in a landmark project for Aeolus Kenya: the Ki-nangop Wind Farm. The firm was also working with Satarem on waste-to-energy projects spanning Guinea, Ivory Coast and Gabon.

Baker & McKenzie

Baker & McKenzie now offers over 150 lawyers on the ground in SouthAfrica, Egypt and Morocco along with its global network. The firm’sstrength is its global reach and local presence. For example, in 2012 itled an energy deal with finance and project capacity in Johannesburg,EPC lawyers from Chicago, construction partners from London and acompliance team from Washington DC.

The South Africa office opened in May 2012 with the highly experi-enced Dewey & LeBoeuf team and now manages pan-African deals outof the London and Johannesburg offices primarily, although its Australianand Asian networks feature highly. It boasts a large mining and metalsteam and environmental law practice and is well established for projectfinancings.

On the pro-bono side, the firm has been working with the Interna-tional Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) and key public representatives onpetroleum law matters in Sierra Leone. It has also won numerous ac-colades from Petroleum Economist and MergerMarkets for its involve-ment in African energy and renewables deals.

MattersIn 2012, Johannesburg based Gerhard Rudolph and Kate Daniels wererepresenting an E&P client as a claimant in an arbitration relating tofacilities in Malawi and Namibia, while London’s Jeremy Winter ap-peared for a Kenyan contractor in arbitration against the Tanzaniangovernment concerning a road construction.

Global Oil & Gas head Neil Donoghue was advising Sociedad Na-cional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol) on the $10 billionSonaref Refinery Project, which, as part of a strategic plan by Angola,will convert heavy crudes into high quality fuel, diesel and LPG for do-mestic use and export. Melbourne-based John Mollard was acting forSyrah Resources on its acquisition of Jacana Resources and the devel-opment of projects in Mozambique.

Marc Fèvre and Richard Blunt and Martijn Wilder were also activein interesting projects in the DRC, Namibia, Gabon and Kenya, amongother countries, advising governments and private companies on cor-porate, restructuring, PPP and environment and regulatory mandates.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Coted’Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda,Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Highlight clientsTullow Oil, Hercules Oil, Gold One International, Aeolus Kenya,Satarem

Key officesBrisbane, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Paris, Perth, Singapore,Sydney, Tokyo

Most active disciplinesEquity capital markets, corporate and commercial, M&A, projectfinance, EPC

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy, water,sewage and utilities

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, US

Key partnersRonnie King, Robert Ogilvy-Watson, Geoffrey Picton-Turbevill,Peter Roberts, Antony Skinner, Cameron Smith, Mike J Smith

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire,DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya,Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda,Zambia, Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsFirst Rand Bank, Deutsche Bank, Allianz Climate Solutions,Trafigura Beheer

Key officesLondon, Paris, Johannesburg, Rome, Chicago

Most active disciplinesLitigation, company and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures,banking, debt capital markets and structured finance, project finance(energy, infrastructure, IPP), renewables finance, EPC

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy and cleantechnology, roads

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, US, South African

Key partnersRichard Blunt, Scott Brodsky, Neil Donoghue, Martijn Wilder,Jeremy Winter



Baker Botts

Stuart Schaffer leads Baker Botts’ Global Projects Group out of Hous-ton. The firm has been advising on Africa deals since the 1970s andone of its highlight continuing mandates since 2005 has been for BrassLNG on its liquefaction terminal in Nigeria.

Indeed, the firm maintains an edge in LNG related work, boastingmore worldwide LNG projects than any other, and recently handledLNG matters in Equatorial Guinea and Angola. It also has a dedicatedenergy team and an exceptionally heavy footprint in West Africa’s oiland gas sector. “They really know what they are doing”, says a client.

The Lex Mundi association connects Baker Botts with some of theleading firms in Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa.

MattersA team led by Michael Goldberg with Michael Lennon was successfulin litigation on behalf of a European infrastructure client securing re-imbursement relating to facilities in West Africa. David Powers, MauraGoldstein and Stuart Solsky assisted Buchanan Renewables on financ-ing for a $290 million biomass fuel business and independent powerproject in Liberia, with financing from OPIC. The project will be sig-nificant for Liberia and the carbon footprint of its utility system.

The firm was also advising the Initiative for Global Developmenton forms of power purchase agreement and host government agree-ments for power project in Africa, incentivising and standardising newapproaches to power. A highlight deal had the firm advising Brass LNGon shipping, LNG sales, EPC contracts and gas supply issues of its highprofile LNG project in Nigeria. John White, Jason Bennett, HamishMcArdle and Solsky were leading the project.

Bowman Gilfillan

Bowman Gilfillan currently has arguably the best pan-Africa practiceof the South African firms, while its domestic energy and infrastructurepractice also gets great feedback.

On the pan-African side South African firms have tough competi-tion, especially where much of the big ticket work emanates from Eu-rope, Asian or US hubs and is structured under English or French law,but the BGAG (Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group) is very strong insouthern Africa especially and a leading provider of local law support.

Rob Legh leads the firm’s pan-Africa practice. Clients praise EzraDavids’ team for commercial work, where Charles Young has recentlybeen heading deals. Derek Lotter comes highly praised for competition,Claire Tucker is highly recommended on natural resources, mining andmetals, renewables and regulatory matters and Anton Barnes-Webb isone of the country’s top finance lawyers.

MattersThe firm has been providing continuing advice to Metorex in relationto its mining operations in the DRC, with Charles Douglas, Legh,David Anderson and Julie Oppenheim handling much of the work.

A corporate finance deal saw Patrick Hirsch, Neil Rissik and NatashaRech act for African Rainbow Minerals on joint-venture arrangementsand shareholder funding to develop the Konkola North Copper Mine,involving the formation of a Swiss SPV to on-lend to the Zambianjoint-venture.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire, EquatorialGuinea, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa

Highlight clientsBrass LNG, GDF Suez, Initiative for Global Development, ElvatonNigeria

Key officesAbu Dhabi, Riyadh, Dubai, London, Houston, Moscow, New York

Most active disciplinesCompany and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures, projectfinance, renewables finance, EPC, regulatory and compliance

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewables and cleantechnology, industry and manufacturing

Law capabilityEnglish, US

Key partnersJason Bennett, David Powers, Stuart Schaffer, Stuart Solsky

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, SouthAfrica, Tanzania, Uganda

Highlight clientsDevelopment Bank of South Africa (DBSA), South Africangovernment,

Key officesJohannesburg

Most active disciplinesDisputes, project finance, EPC, environmental, land, public andadministrative

Key sectorsOil and gas, mining and metals, power, renewables, airports, industryand manufacturing, ports, water, sewage and utilities

Law capabilitySouth African. With network: Tanzanian, Kenyan, Ugandan

Key partnersAnton Barnes-Webb, Rob Legh



Chadbourne & Parke

Chadbourne & Parke is one of the most successful US firms in theAfrican market. Despite not having a Paris office, the firm does have aFrench speaking projects team which has been busy working on thefrancophone Ruzizi III hydropower project, one of the continent’s mostsignificant current energy projects. Its key strengths are in projects andproject finance in the energy, power and oil and gas sectors. Other projects worthy of note have been in the South African re-

newables programme where in 2012 the firm worked on the DorperWind Project. A long standing energy client says the firm “brings ex-tensive experience on all stages of the projects and the fact that theyhave done this a million times over brings reassurance”. Clients recommends Robin Mizrahi for projects and project finance,

Todd Alexander on the construction side and Robert Shapiro for energyand project finance. The firm has cultivated a strong link with bilateraland multilateral agencies and operates throughout the region with aninformal network of relationships with local firms.

MattersAgnieszka Klich kept busy, assisting Standard Bank as advisor to theDRC government on the privatisation of a state-owned cement plantand working with an IPR-GDF Suez led consortium (including Mitsui)on the financing and development of two peaking power projects inSouth Africa with a combined capacity of 1,100MW and lending of$1 billion. In 2012 Robin Mizrahi was advising Sithe Global and Kenya’s In-

dustrial Promotion Services (IPS) on the project financing of the RuziziIII hydro-power plant, with Burundi, DRC and Rwanda as shared off-takers. Out of Dubai, Clint Steyn led a team to advise ABSA, Nedbankand SMBC on financing of $250 million for the 100MW DorperWind Farm. Richard Keenan and Peter Fitzgerald also handled dealsin Tanzania and Rwanda.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Cleary Gottlieb is one of the biggest firms for corporate matters andM&A in Africa. It has a strong franchise in advising governments andpublic entities, as well as private clients and investors. Active in Africa for over 40 years, a key to the firm’s success has been

its international approach, which allows it to serve a wide range ofclients across the energy and infrastructure sectors, and its big namesin Paris, which count Jean-Pierre Vignaud and Barthélemy Faye. HongKong partner Michael Preston is also very active for Asian investments.

MattersMichael Preston led teams to advise Sichuan Hongda Group in a $3billion investment into coal and iron ore projects in Tanzania andAfrican Minerals Limited on a $1.5 billion equity investment by Shan-dong Iron and Steel Group into its Sierra Leone Tonkolili mine, railand port and power subsidiaries. Barthélemy Faye was advising Dangote Cement on the regulatory,

due diligence and project structuring of two quarrying and cement fa-cility projects in Congo and Gabon, totalling $600 million. Jean-Pierre Vignaud teamed up with Faye to assist the Gambia River

Basin Organisation, which includes Gambia, Senegal, Guinea andGuinea-Bissau, on the structuring of a public-private partnership proj-ect for a $1 billion hydroelectric power project. The firm was also ad-vising ArcelorMittal in relation to its Liberia Landmark Mining Project.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBurundi, DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, SouthAfrica, Tanzania, Uganda

Highlight clientsDevelopment Bank of Southern Africa, Standard Bank, GDF Suez,Sithe Global, OPIC

Key officesLondon, Washington DC, Dubai

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, sovereign states, project finance (energy,natural resources and IPP), renewables finance, EPC

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy

Law capabilityUK, US

Key partnersAgnieszka Klich, Robin Mizrahi, Melanie Willems

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsRepublic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea,Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal, Sierra Leone,South Africa, Tanzania

Highlight clientsHelios Investment Partners, Republic of Congo, BHP Billiton,ArcelorMittal

Key officesParis, London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, finance

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, industry and manufacturing

Law capabilityEnglish, French, US

Key partnersBarthélemy Faye, Michael Preston, Jean-Pierre Vignaud



Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance has had a committed Africa strategy for a number ofyears and can field a strong team across the disciplines, the continentand the energy and infrastructure sectors. It has a strong franchise withAsian and Indian clients and an active disputes practice.

Recently, the firm has been very active in the South African renewablesprogramme , with partners including James Pay, David Metzger, NicholasWong and teams from London, Paris and Düsseldorf. The firm alsoworked on the single largest investment in Kenya’s history for the LakeTurkana Wind Farm. Clients praise Anthony Giustini and counsel Mar-ianne Pezant for their responsiveness and experience. “Giustini is amazingin terms of what he knows… he has been doing this for years [and] hasa capacity to explain very complex things in very simple terms”, says aclient, while another says he is “a solid partner when you need a goodlawyer who can get things done beyond just the lawyering”.

Clients praise the firm’s “accumulated experience in Africa” and say“they are the best at protecting our interests”. Other key names includePieter van Welzen, David Dunnigan, David Lewis, Edmund Boyo,Kem Ihenacho, Tim Lewis, David Steinberg, Gilles Lebreton and coun-sel Delphine Siino Courtin.

MattersAudley Sheppard was busy on litigation, dispute resolution and an ICCarbitration cases over oil production sharing agreements and a powerplant project in Nigeria, while colleague Jeremy Kosky handled a sig-nificant mining sector arbitration cases related to facilities in the DRC.

Anthony Giustini and Tim Lewis both led big corporate teams forclients such as Dominium Petroleum, the African Finance Corporationand PAIDF. One of the firm’s big deals was for Royal Dutch Shell,which it advised on its $1.57 billion offer for Cove Energy; a deal withKenyan and Tanzanian components. Kem Ihenacho also led a team as-sisting KKR on the acquisition of Acteon Group by US private equityenergy group First Reserve. The deal spanned 30 African countries.

Highlight finance deals saw Nikolaï Eatwell at the helm of a largeParis-London team to advise the IFC, Proparco, BIO, DEG, EAIF,FMO and BOAD on a $350 million financing for phase three of theAzito Thermal Plant project in Cote d’Ivoire and Ranbir Hunjan adviseState Bank of India on an $800 million financing of Bharat Petroleum’sexploration costs in Mozambique.

Clyde & Co

Clyde & Co was the first international firm to have an office in Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa. Outside its Tanzania base, ledby Peter Kasanda, it has a “best friends” relationship with Scanlen &Holderness in Zimbabwe and operates through informal relationshipselsewhere. The team is well known for oil and gas and exploration,power and maritime, with strong experience in tax cases, in West Africa,and in infrastructure.

One client praises oil and gas partner Mike Wachtel for his “under-standing of the financing requirements of junior oil and gas companiesand the international oil and gas sector”. “He helped us to completeour fundraising in record time”, adds the client. Clients also recom-mend dispute lawyers Anthony Albertini and David Owens for being“very diligent” and Peter Gray for “compliance matters… constructioncontracts, maritime law and joint-ventures”. “Peter has a lot of experi-ence in Africa and brings a lot to the table when we work in EastAfrica”.

The firm has worked in 46 countries across the region and in 2012,as well as launching an office in Libya, has begun to provide clientswith Africa focused alerts and publications.

MattersIn 2012 David Bennet and Mark Walsh have been engaged in arbitra-tion over an oil rig in Cameroon, while Anthony Albertini, Tim Taylorand Leigh Williams all acted in an insurance dispute relating to anFPSO installation in West Africa and road infrastructure arbitrationon the Horn of Africa. The firm represented private and public entitiesin the cases.

Among the corporate highlights Philip Mace worked on a multi-bil-lion joint-venture in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector while also in NigeriaPeter Gray and George Booth represented a client on a power sectoracquisition. A notable mining deal saw Philip Rogers advising a clienton an acquisition in the DRC.

Gray and Peter Kasanda assisted in financings, working with EconetWireless Global on $362 million from an Afrexim-led syndicate for theexpansion of its facilities in Zimbabwe and Burundi. Chris Duffy hasalso been working with Anglo African Capital on speculative iron oreinvestments in Liberia, Zimbabwe and Sudan.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central AfricanRepublic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon,Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius,Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, SouthAfrica, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsShell, KKR, IFC, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Wendel

Key officesParis, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Casablanca

Most active disciplinesInternational Arbitration, equity capital markets, M&A and joint-ventures, private equity and funds, asset finance, debt capitalmarkets, project Finance (energy and infrastructure), renewablesfinance

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewables and cleantechnology, ports

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, US

Key partnersEdmund Boyo, Jeremy Connick, Nikolaï Eatwell, Anthony Giustini,Kem Ihenacho, Audley Sheppard, Pieter van Welzen

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo (Republic of ), DRC, Ethiopia,Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia,Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsSasol, Glencore, Econet Wireless, Kuwait Foreign PetroleumExploration Company

Key officesLondon, Dar es Salaam, Dubai, Tripoli

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, litigation, company and commercial, M&Aand joint-ventures, banking, asset finance, project finance (energy,infrastructure and IPP), EPC

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewables and cleantechnology, roads

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Tanzanian

Key partnersPeter Gray, Peter Kasanda, Philip Mace, John Morris, MichaelWachtel



CMS

CMS includes CMS Cameron McKenna and its CMS network firms.In Sub-Saharan Africa, CMS works through CMS Rui Pena, whichmanages work in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique and infor-mal relationships with independent firms in the remaining countries.It has a strong profile for energy work and has also acted on notableinfrastructure and power matters, including a substantial rail projectin East Africa.

A client acting in the West African oil and gas sector praises BobPalmer as “one of the most experienced oil and gas lawyers in London.He is a genuine expert, in the field for 20 years… understands the en-vironment, knows the industry, always responsive, everything you wantin an oil and gas lawyer”. “CMS do all our M&A advice, farm-in, farm-outs and new licenses,” says the client. Palmer is a well-known Londonoil and gas lawyer formerly an in-house with Shell. Clients also recom-mend Andrew Shaw for his expertise in drilling and Richard Sinclairon acquisitions.

MattersBen Holland and Phillip Ashley acted in oil sector disputes related toretrospective taxes and alleged fines and drilling arrangements whileBob Palmer was very active on the corporate side assisting clients on ajoint-venture in Angola’s oil and gas sector, asset sales and acquisitionsin Nigeria, Angola and Cote d’Ivoire and the acquisition of an interestin an oil block in Equatorial Guinea.

Finance saw the firm busy on infrastructure projects, most notablyin East Africa where Jonathan Dames led a team on a $211 million fi-nancing for rail infrastructure and Andrew Ivison and Munir Hassanwere engaged on a large renewables project. Andrew Shaw, Robert Laneand Hassan were also busy on drilling contracts in Tanzania and elec-tricity transmission arrangements and renewables IPPs in South Africa.

Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle

Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle is strongly focussed on public law,where it has a good franchise in advising African governments on liti-gation and disputes, often in oil and gas related matters. A client in theUganda government recommends the firm for litigation matters andarbitration.

DLA Piper

DLA Piper is one of the best known firms for Africa related matters. Ithas a non-exclusive network of formally associated local firms through-out the region in its DLA Piper Group and some of the strongest groupfirms in their jurisdictions include DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr inSouth Africa, Sebalu & Lule in Uganda and Reindorf Chambers inGhana. The firm has an especially strong profile in mining and metals.

MattersIn one notable matter in Ghana, DLA Piper was working with its localGroup firm Reindorf Chambers to advise the lenders on financing toAbengoa Water and Sojitz Corporation for the development of a desali-nation project. Another lender mandate saw the firm advising StandardChartered in a $110 million claim against TANESCO and the govern-ment of Tanzania in relation to a 100MW independent power project.

Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS)

Eric le Grange manages ENS’ Africa practice and comes highly recom-mended across the board for projects, project finance and corporatemandates. The firm has recently been extending its Sub-Saharan prac-tice through its ENS Africa brand, which has offices in Rwanda, ledby Desire Kamanzi, Burundi, led by former Mkono & Co partnerGilbert Nyatanyi, and Uganda, under former Synergy Advocates man-ager Donald Nyakairu.

In 2012, ENS handled projects in Tanzania, Central African Repub-lic (CAR), Ghana and the DRC, where it has been advising Boss Min-ing, although it is strongest in southern African jurisdictions and in thebooming Mozambique market. Clients praise the firm especially forcorporate matters and in the mining and metals industry.

MattersEric le Grange and Pippa Reyburn have been busy on a long runningproject for CIC Energy International Power, advising on project estab-lishment, regulatory and finance aspects of the coal-fired MmamabulaPower Project in Botswana, valued at $1.5 billion, as well as procure-ment of generation capacity by the South African government.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Equatorial Guinea,Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia,Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Somalia,South Africa, Sudan (north), Tanzania, Uganda

Highlight clientsBG Group, Maersk, Cairn Energy, Premier Oil

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, finance, EPC, environmental

Key officesLondon, Algiers, Casablanca, Dubai

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Angolan, Mozambique,Guinea-Bissau

Key partnersBen Holland, Bob Palmer

2012 Firm OverviewKey partnersRemy Lerner, Geoffrey Lyonnet

2012 Firm OverviewKey partnersBen Donovan, Joseph Tato

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBotswana, Central African Republic, DRC, Ghana, Mozambique,Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania

Highlight clientsSasol New Energy, Group Five, Republic of Mozambique PipelineCompany, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Key officesJohannesburg, Cape Town

Most active disciplinesM&A and joint-ventures, project finance (energy, infrastructure andIPP), renewables finance

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewables energy and cleantechnology, rail

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, US, Burundi, Rwanda,Uganda

Key partnersEric le Grange



Other highlights had Sasha Singh and Le Grange assisting Sasol NewEnergy on corporate, project development and energy purchase mattersin Mozambique while Le Grange and John Ferraz were advising theRepublic of Mozambique Pipeline Investment Company on its gastransportation agreements and project financing. The firm won man-dates from Boss Mining, for infrastructure upgrades in the DRC, andGroup Five, for project development in Mozambique and Ghana.

Andrew van Niekerk was also kept busy by Axmin on a $400 millionproject in the Central African Repubic. A final large deal saw the firmadvise the Development Bank of Southern Africa on a $160 million fi-nancing of a 320MW power transmission network in Tanzania.

Eversheds

Eversheds handled some impressive mandates in the mining and metalssector in 2012 and received at least one very significant instruction fora gas-to-power plant from a West African government. It is traditionallystrong in Francophone Africa but in 2011 Howard Barrie, former headof project finance and chair of the Africa group at SNR Denton, joinedthe London office and has since developed the Anglophone Africa ca-pacity.

A client recommends Boris Martor in Francophone West Africa mat-ters. “I regard them very highly. They are very good in terms of theservice they provided and responsive to our needs”. Clients add thatthe firm “has a very good network” and praise the team for its handlingof “complex agreements”, “monitoring the performance of transactions”and “dealing with local banks and advising on valuations”. A client ac-tive in East Africa says Barrie is “our first port of call”. “The level ofdetail they give is superior to other firms,” say clients, also praising “thespeed at which responses come and the knowledge of the business en-vironment”.

A client in the renewables sector is effusive about Eversheds: “Theygive us everything, and that is saying a lot because there a lot of partic-ulars in renewables legalities.” The firm has an informal local networkthroughout Africa, and while it recently dissolved its formal alliancewith Routledge Modise in South Africa it has won recent clients in in-stitutions such as the East Africa Development Bank (EADB).

MattersIn disputes, David Sellers was representing a client in a dispute over apower project in West Africa. The case has been handled entirely inFrench and under local law.

On the corporate side, the firm was assisting First Uranium Corpo-ration on a $400 million sale of shares in Ezulwini Mining Companyto AngloGold Ashanti and Gold One International, and Wits Gold

and Pan-African Resources on the 100% acquisition of the Evandergold mine.

Boris Martor was busy in the gold and oil and gas sectors in WestAfrica and South Africa, while in Ghana he acted for the Africa FinanceCorporation (AFC) on financing for a public-private partnership (PPP)road concession project. Howard Barrie was also kept busy by the EastAfrican Development Bank (EADB) on infrastructure financings.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields gets especially strong reviews for corporate work in the oiland gas sector thanks largely to partners Graham Watson and GeoffreyPeters, while its world class arbitration team has also been handling anumber of high profile Africa cases. Alan Rae Smith, who joined fromAllen & Overy, heads up the firm’s project finance arm.

A UK oil and gas client who works in West Africa says: “We werevery pleased with the quality of advice and responsiveness and the abil-ity to work within a short timeframe.” Rae Smith “is right up there asone of the best people I would recommend, literally outstanding interms of his technical knowledge but also the way he and his peopleintegrated with our team” says the client. An upstream client says thefirm “is capable of doing anything we need on these products and rec-ommends Geoffrey Peters as having “the best handle on drafting andnegotiating upstream documents”. Clients reserve high praise for thefirm’s tax team.

The firm was also one of the founders of the ILFA in 2006 and hasrecently been working with the Botswana government on its environ-mental legislation, the Ghana government in relation to its involvementin the Jubilee oil field and Mauritania government in drafting a newMining Code.

MattersConstantine Partasides was representing Esso Exploration and Produc-tion Nigeria and ExxonMobil Nigeria in commercial arbitration on asuccessful $2 billion claim against the NNPC over tax and royalties pay-ments, among other matters. The ruling was being fought in Nigeria.Partasides also acted for the government of Kenya in a series of UNCI-TRAL arbitrations. Georgios Petrochilos was representing the SouthAfrican Department of Mineral Resources in domestic litigation over ex-propriation rights and Chris Pugh was acting for a consortium of oilcompanies in commercial arbitration over contractual matters in Nigeria.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad,Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Equatorial Guinea,Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria,Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda,Zambia, Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsEmerging Capital Partners, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Total,Oryx Oil & Gas

Key officesLondon, Paris

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, finance, EPC, regulatory and compliance, tax

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish

Key partnersHoward Barrie, Boris Martor, David Sellers

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Cameroon, Chad, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea,Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, SouthAfrica, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Highlight clientsBG Group, Chevron, Total, Petrofac, Xstrata

Key officesLondon, Paris, Amsterdam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, New York

Most active disciplinesADR, international arbitration, litigation, equity and debt capitalmarkets, commercial contracts, M&A and corporate, private equityand funds, sovereign states, banking, project finance (infrastructure,energy), competition, employment, environmental, IP, land,compliance, tax

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy, defence

Law capabilityUK, French, Spanish, US, South African

Key partnersShawn der Kinderen, Constantine Partasides, Geoffrey Peters, AlanRae Smith, Graham Watson



The firm was heavily involved in corporate dispute resolution whileon the transactional side it advised a string of clients in oil and gas andmining M&A in Liberia, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria. A large projectsmatters saw Alan Rae Smith (finance) and Sarah Falk (tax) advise Petro-fac on a $500 million strategic alliance with exploration companyBowleven for the development of the Etinde Permit gas and condensatereserve off the coast of Cameroon.

Gide Loyrette Nouel

Gide Loyrette Nouel is arguably the leading French firm for Africa workin energy and infrastructure. François Krotoff is one of the most seniorand experienced practitioners in the market for Africa while the firmalso has a strong contentious practice in the sector under Carole Mal-invaud, Rupert Reece and Christian Camboulive.

Understandably, due to its familiarity with OHADA laws, the teamhas a good franchise in Francophone Africa above all and in advisingDFIs and sovereign states; for example, it has recently been advisingthe government of Congo on upstream oil and gas matters. JohnCrothers has a strong track record advising the IFC and many com-mentators recommend the firm in power projects especially. Through2012 the firm worked on a series of interesting projects spanning theenergy sector in particular.

MattersThe firm’s highlight dispute cases of 2012 took place in Cote d’Ivoire.A key case saw Michel Pitron advise Trafigura Group before civil andcriminal courts following the dumping of toxic waste in 2006 in Abid-jan. The firm, led by Carole Malinvaud and Rupert Reece, has alsobeen representing Dutch Medical Group in arbitration over contractsfor medical facilities in Angola and elsewhere, advising the Ministry ofMines of Cote d’Ivoire in negotiations over cross-border oil and gasfields with Ghana.

François Krotoff advised Société de Production d’Electricité à partirdu Gaz (SPEG) on a $600 million joint-venture and project financingfor a 300MW gas power project in Mauritania and Congo’s Ministryof Hydro-carbons on updating the legal framework pertaining to up-stream activities.

A highlight projects deal saw John Crothers act for IFC InfraVen-tures and Scatec Solar on the concession agreement and developmentof four solar plants in Mali with a capacity of 600MW, marking oneof the first large solar complexes in the region.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo (Republic of ),Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana,Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, SouthAfrica, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda

Highlight clientsIFC, Total E&P, Scatec Solar, Government of Congo

Key officesLondon, Paris, Beijing

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, M&A, sovereign states, project finance, EPC,regulatory and compliance

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, ports, rail

Law capabilityEnglish, French

Key partnersJohn Crothers, François Krotoff

Movers and shakersIn May 2012 Baker & McKenzie made a bold move into South Africalaunching an office in Johannesburg with lawyers and staff from thedefunct Dewey & LeBoeuf office. The team is well established in thecountry’s energy market. In late 2012 the firm then reinforced the hirewith a team of dispute lawyers.

Following the launch of its South Africa office in June 2011 through amerger with local firm Deneys Reitz, in October 2012 Norton Roseopened an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, under former Clyde &Co partner Adam Lovett (UK law) and Angela Mndolwa (Tanzanianlaw).

In January 2013, Linklaters and South African firm Webber Wentzellaunched their collaborative alliance. The Webber Wentzel in alliancewith Linklaters joint-venture is overseen by London based Linklaterspartners Sandeep Katwala, Andrew Jones and Patrick Sheil.

Also in January 2013, Clyde & Co officially launched its own brandedoffice in Tanzania, although the firm has had an office on the groundsince 2006. Peter Kasanda and Kibuta Ongwamuhana (from localassociation firm Ako Law) will run the office.

In March 2013, McDermott Will & Emery recruited a seasoned Africaenergy team of three from Fasken Martineau in Paris, led by Jean-Claude Petilon. Liliane Doukouré and Matthieu Adam joined ascounsels in the energy practice.

In early 2013, Herbert Smith Freehills was preparing to launch anoffice in Conakry, Guinea, largely to follow up on the vast Rio TintoSimandou iron ore mining project in the country. The experiencedParis projects partner Bertrand Montembault will take initial charge ofthe office.

Highlight matters in 2012• Independence of South Sudan: ICSID arbitration between SouthSudan and North Sudan over oil rights (ongoing) and the negotiationof new contract agreements between the South Sudan government andoil companies – contracts signed January 2012.

• Tullow’s $2.9 billion farm out of two thirds of its licenses in Uganda’sLake Alberta region to Total and the China National Offshore OilCorporation (CNOOC) – February 2012.

• PAIDF’s acquisition of a 20% stake in the company building andoperating the Marcory Bridge in Côte d’Ivoire – June 2012.

• Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production’s acquisition of CoveEnergy, which owns a stake in the Rovuma Basin, Mozambique, for$1.9 billion – July 2012.

• Azito Phase III Thermal Power Plant’s $350 million project financingfrom a number of IFIs and banks in Côte d’Ivoire – October 2012.

• The $250 million project financing and development of the 100MWDorper Wind Project (financing from ABSA, Nedbank and SMBC) inSouth Africa – November 2012.

• Bharat Petroleum’s $700 million financing for exploration costs andthe acquisition of a 10% stake in the Rovuma Basin, Mozambique –November 2012.

• Sundance Resources’ $4.5 billion development of theMbalam/Nabeda iron ore mine, rail and port project in Cameroon andRepublic of Congo – convention signed November 2012.



Herbert Smith Freehills

Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) represents some of the biggest globalenergy companies and has worked on some vast projects in 2012. In2013 the firm will be deepening its hold over West Africa with thelaunch of an office in Conakry, Guinea, on the back of a $10 billioniron ore project in the country for Rio Tinto.

“It’s like clockwork working with them, extremely competent andon the ball,” says an East African client. Clients recommend StéphaneBrabant and Nina Bowyer as “outstanding” and Rebecca Major (Tokyo)and Jonathan Mattout (Hong Kong/Paris) for corporate and compli-ance work, respectively. “I would rate them extremely highly,” says theclient. Martin Kavanagh, Anna Howell, Hilary Lau, David Laurence,Bertrand Montembault and Charles Kaplan (disputes) all receive praisefor their Africa related work. “HSF goes the extra mile… we dependeda lot on the general knowledge from the background people,” says an-other client.

The firm is multi-lingual and offers a deep bench in energy, oil andgas, mining and energy infrastructure projects in particular and alsoadvises clients on content requirements, resettlement and compensa-tion, social issues, environmental matters and compliance.

MattersTed Greeno and James Bailey led a large team to represent West AfricanGas Pipeline Company on a claim of over $300 million relating to EPCcontract obligations against Willbros Global Holdings in the EnglishHigh Court. The case was settled in 2012. The firm was also represent-ing Standard Chartered Bank in ICSID arbitration against Tanzaniarelating to bilateral investment treaty obligations.

Martin Kavanagh, Nina Bowyer and Adrian Clough were advisingCPCS Transcom Limited and the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enter-prises on the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector. The firm has alsobeen busy in Nigeria upstream oil & gas sector on a high value acqui-sition and for BP in an acquisition Namibia’s upstream sector.

In financing, the firm assisted the African Development Bank andother lenders on a $275 million infrastructure project financing to theLagos Cable Car Transit project (Nigeria) and Stanbic on a $150 mil-lion wind farm financing in Kenya. For Rio Tinto, Stéphane Brabant,Christophe Lefort, Bruno Gay, Nicholas Heurzeau, Sébastien Gaudu

and others have been working on all aspects (construction, projects,social impact, regulatory) on the $10 billion Simandou iron ore project.

Hogan Lovells

Andrew Gamble heads the Africa practice at Hogan Lovells, whichboasts a wide scope both in terms of its international reach – with Africapractice leaders scattered across the globe – but also in terms of thework it undertakes. Examples of recent matters include instructionsfrom Middle East clients, West Africa related arbitration cases andlender mandates from DFIs, among others, though the firm has beenespecially busy in West Africa in the oil and gas sectors.

The team operates with informal relationships throughout the regionand also manages a secondment programme with the ALN. Its disputepartners have undertaken pro-bono work for the Kigali InternationalArbitration Centre in Rwanda, which hopes to promote Rwanda as aregional arbitration centre, while the firm as a whole has worked withthe governments of Guinea, Sao Tome & Principe and Liberia and col-laborated with the Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) in the context of legaltraining for the development of Liberia’s public institutions and miningand agricultural concession agreements.

MattersJohn Meltzer was busy acting as defence counsel for an oil companyagainst a group action claim for damages in West Africa before the Eng-lish courts, while Simon Nesbitt and Jerome Finnis were acting theFederal High Court of Nigeria in an international arbitration involvingoil and gas rights.

On the corporate side Steven Bryan and Ben Higson led teams ad-vising publicly listed South African based Coal of Africa on an institu-tional investment to raise $45 million, a $60 million debt and equityfinancing and $100 million share placement to a subsidiary of BeijingHaohua Energy Resource. The work was done in conjunction with JPMorgan Cazenove. Bryan was also assisting the National PetroleumCorporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) in relation to the Kudu gas-to-power project, specifically on a farm-in deal with Eco Oil & Gas andSerica Energy.

A significant finance project saw James Gede, Andrew Gallagher,Paul Dillbeck and Alex Harrison advise the Abu Dhabi National En-ergy Company (TAQA) in relation to the construction and develop-

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central AfricanRepublic, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti,DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal,Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo,Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsBHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Perenco, BP, GDF Suez, Perenco

Key officesParis, London, Tokyo (among others)

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, litigation, company and commercial, M&Aand joint-ventures, asset finance, project finance (energy and IPP),regulatory and compliance, tax


Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish

Key partnersNina Bowyer, Stéphane Brabant, Anna Howell, Charles Kaplan,Martin Kavanagh

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBurundi, DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria,Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe

Highlight clientsAbu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), National PetroleumCorporation of Namibia, African Export-Import Bank

Key officesLondon, Paris, Dubai, Shanghai, Washington, Rio de Janeiro,Beijing, Singapore

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, litigation, equity capital markets, M&Aand joint-ventures, private equity and funds, commodities tradingand derivatives, project finance (energy and infrastructure), EPC,competition

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, ports, roads

Law capabilityEnglish, French, US, Spanish, African dual-qualified lawyers invarious countries

Key partnersAndrew Gamble



ment of 110MW expansion of a natural gas and crude oil fired powerplant near Takoradi, Ghana. The matter involved DFI project financingof $370 million. Andrew Gamble and Matthew Andrews were also in-volved in lender mandates.

Hunton & Williams

Hunton & Williams is very experienced in advising states and state in-stitutions on all manner of energy projects and this is what they aremost widely praised for. From its position in Washington DC the teamhas also built especially strong links with DFIs, export credit agenciesand IFIs, with the most notable among them being the World Bankand IFC.

One deal highlighting the firm’s expertise has been its role advisingthe governments of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda on the Ruzizi IIIhydropower project, a significant and tricky project by all counts. Thefirm also worked on the Bujagali hydroelectric project in Uganda andon the Songo Songo gas-to-electric project in Tanzania.

John Beardsworth Jr and Ryan Ketchum both come highly recom-mended. “They are extremely competent on the individual side… reallywork well ensuring the transaction stays alive and that everything hasbeen taken care of,” says a client. Ketchum is a “brilliant advisor”, saysanother client.

MattersJohn Beardsworth Jr, John Range and Ryan Ketchum were continuingto defend the Government of Tanzania and the Tanzania Electric Sup-ply Company (TANESCO) in ICSID arbitration against claims fromlenders, including a $110 million claim from Standard Chartered Bank.

In corporate work, the firm acted for Allied Resources Group oncorporate structuring, private equity and venture capital funding to de-velop mining operations in Ethiopia and was busy assisting NigeriaBulk Electricity Trading and the Nigerian government in the privati-zation of the electricity sector.

A highlight finance deal saw the firm, led by Ketchum, advise thegovernments of Burundi, Rwanda and DRC on project financing of!550 million for the 145MW Ruzizi III Regional Hydroelectric Proj-ect.

Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins’ Africa practice is led out of Paris by Clement Fon-dufe, a New York and Cameroon bar qualified lawyer. The firm has itshighest profile in West Africa where it has been involved in M&A trans-actions in the upstream sector and worked for the Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation (NNPC), among other key institutions, but ithas also been picking up mandates in the lively natural resource-fuelledMozambique economy.

MattersClement Fondufe and Glen Ireland were the lawyers for Mubadala De-velopment Company on the Project Grande Mubadala bauxite projectin Guinea in connection with an equity investment (in negotiation)and bauxite contract for offtake rights. Fondufe, with Bill Voge andDennis Nordstrom, was also advising Anadarko Petroleum Corporationon financing to develop an LNG project in Mozambique. If completed,the deal could potential register as the largest ever project financing inAfrica.

The firm was instructed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Cor-poration (NNPC) and ExxonMobil to assist on a resource funding loanfor upstream oil and gas development $1.5 billion and Mittal SteelHoldings on financing, totalling $1.3 billion for its LAMCO iron oremine in Liberia. Nordstrom and Fondufe again acted on the above.

Linklaters

Commentators consistently rate Linklaters as one of the top handfulof firms for corporate finance, transactional and advisory work acrossAfrica. In 2012, it also made its first big move on the continent whenit finalized a formal association with South African firm WebberWentzel.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBurundi, Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria,Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Highlight clientsGovernments of Burundi, DRC, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda andMozambique, Allied Resources Group

Key officesLondon, Richmond (USA)

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, sovereign states, project finance, PPP, renewablesfinance

Key sectorsOil and gas, power, renewable energy, water, sewage and utilities


Key partnersJohn Beardsworth Jr, Ryan Ketchum

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsGuinea, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone (key cases only)

Highlight clientsAnadarko, ExxonMobil, Government of Nigeria, Mittal SteelHoldings, Goldman Sachs

Key officesNew York, Paris

Key partnersClement Fondufe

2012 Firm OverviewKey partnersBertrand Andriani, Charles Jacobs, Andrew Jones



MC&A

Portuguese firm MC&A has a strong portfolio of advising oil and gascompanies on corporate and commercial matters. The firm is especiallystrong in Lusophone Africa, where it has a formal partnership with Fer-nanda Lopes & Associados in Mozambique and Mota Veiga Advogadosin Angola. The firm has associations in various other countries, includ-ing South Africa and Brazil, as well as an association with SNR Denton.

The key partners are Vítor Marques da Cruz, who handles bankingand finance, M&A and real estate matters, Ricardo Néry, a corporatepartner, and oil & gas partner Pedro Gonçalves Paes.

MattersThe firm was busy in Mozambique, where it was advising EDM on re-structuring issues, ONGC on an asset and share purchase for a gas dealand oil block concession and STL Oil on its incorporation in the coun-try. Vítor Marques da Cruz, Pedro Gonçalves Paes and Ricardo Nérywere all active. In Angola, the firm advised Weatherford on asset andshare deals and Bechtel in relation to LNG project infrastructure.

McDermott Will & Emery

In 2013, McDermott Will & Emery (MWE) recruited Jean-ClaudePetilon and his team in Paris, one of the biggest names for Africa workin the French market. The announcement followed the hire of Africadedicated partners Rupert Weber and Stuart Mathews in London fromMaitlands. These additions have significantly changed the firm’s profilein the Africa energy and infrastructure space.

Weber is “hands down the best guy I’ve ever dealt with, he’s very prag-matic and very commercially minded” says a client, adding that the firmis “on the ball, they operate in any terrain, are quick on their feet and flex-ible and very thorough too”. Clients also praise Africa co-head Nick Azisand David Goldman for M&A work in West Africa.

The firm is traditionally strong for corporate, private client, tax andregulatory compliance work in relation to US and UK Bribery laws.New York partner Obiamaka Madubuko is a key name for the latterpractice. The former Maitlands partners have strong experience in min-ing and metals, diamonds, oil and gas and renewables, while AndrewWatson and Azis have recently handled significant infrastructure proj-ects. The firm’s engagement in the region also expresses itself in its part-nership with Caterpillar and Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB) in thecontext of advocacy training in Kenya.

MattersAndrew Watson led a team advising an international oil company inrelation to financing, adding up to $1 billion, for oil infrastructure de-velopment in Chad and Cameroon, while the Maitland’s pair assistedPetro SA on an acquisition of an owner of an interest in the Jubilee oiland gas fields in Ghana.

Nick Azis, supported by tax and employment partners, worked withOlam International in Nigeria on its acquisition of OK Foods foodmanufacturer, the acquisition of dairy food company Ranona and joint-venture to construct a sugar refinery in the port of Lagos. One of thefirm’s highlight deals was for a confidential client’s investment, valuedat $5.2 billion, in Southern Africa’s precious metals sector. Andrew Ver-gunst, Stuart Mathews and Rupert Weber, among others, advised.

Norton Rose

Norton Rose is ubiquitous on the African energy and infrastructure mar-ket and its merger in 2012 with leading South African firm Deneys Reitzwill no doubt increase this visibility even more. Its planned merger withFulbright & Jarworski in 2013 will also add a vital US law capacity.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, South Africa

Key officesLisbon

Most active disciplinesCorporate, finance, EPC, employment, land, tax

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, industry and manufacturing, portsand shipping, rail, roads, water, sewage and utilities


Key partnersVítor Marques da Cruz

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBotswana, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Gabon, Ghana,Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa,Zambia, Zimbabwe

Key officesLondon, New York, Boston, Paris

Highlight clientsOlam, ExxonMobil, United Energies International, UgandanSecurities Exchange

Most active disciplinesCorporate. banking, project finance (energy and infrastructure),environmental, regulatory and compliance, tax

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, renewable energy and cleantechnology, industry and manufacturing, ports

Law capabilityEnglish, US, French, South African

Key PartnersNick Azis, Jean-Claude Petilon, Stuart Mathews, Andrew Vergunst,Andrew Watson, Rupert Weber

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Botswana, Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire, DRC,Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius,Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone,Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Key officesLondon, Johannesburg, Durban, Paris, Dubai, Tanzania

Highlight clientsTullow Oil, Copperbelt Energy Corp, Anvil Mining, KingdomZephyr Africa Management

Most active disciplinesDisputes, Corporate, Banking and Finance, EPC, Employment,Land Law

Key sectorsoil and gas, power, renewable energy and clean technology, ports, rail

Law capabilityEnglish, US (see profile), French, Portuguese, South African

Key partnersMatt Ash, Julian Jackson, Raj Karia, Richard Metcalf, BayoOdubeko, Arun Velusami



“We found working with them very helpful for the advice they gaveand experience they have,” says a client: “they have been working on anumber of projects in Nigeria and in the power sector, so they have alot of country and power experience”. Clients regularly recommendBayo Odubeko, Arun Velusami and Nick Prowse. Another clientpraises Richard Metcalf, for commercial contracts and Richard Hill forEPC and drafting: “Very pleased, couldn’t have expected better… veryexperienced, they did a thoroughly good job and they fixed a lot of is-sues.” Other oft mentioned names include Simon Currie, MartinMcann and Alain Malek.

The firm’s track record across the continent on energy and infra-structure deals is impressive and it has been deeply engaged in the re-newables programme in South Africa, Nigeria’s power privatisationprocess and East Africa’s oil and gas drive.

MattersStephen Rigby and Jason Moss led a cross-office team advising DenhamCapital Management on its partnership with Fotowatio RenewableVentures, to invest in solar projects in South Africa, while Odubekoand Prowse assisted Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management on an in-vestment into First Hydro-Carbons Nigeria. The firm also acted forAnvil Mining on its takeover by DRC state owned Gécamines, valuedat $1.25 billion.

Madhavi Gosavi, Velusami and Hill were working with StandardBank of South Africa and ICBC on project financing for the 83 MWAthi River thermal IPP (independent power project) in Kenya whilethe South Africa office, led by Gavin Noeth and Muzi Kubeka, ad-vised SPP Project Solutions (transaction advisor to the government)on financing, worth $800 million, for the Mauritian Road Decon-gestion Programme PPP (public-private partnership).

The firm was very active in South Africa Renewable Energy IPP Pro-curement Programme, advising developers, lenders, sponsors and con-tractors in up to 40 wind, solar and hydro projects. A vast project hasMetcalfe and Hill working with the Zimbabwe Power Company forexpansion projects estimated at $3 billion for Hwange Thermal andKariba South.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

Orrick has a very committed Suub-Saharan Africa projects practiceand especially so in Francophone Africa and OHADA countries,where Pascal Agboyibor and Yves Lepage emerge as leading names,especially on the government advisory and state entity side. Highlightexamples of this are the roles the firm is playing in the vast ProjectInga III and Gécamines projects in the DRC. The firm matches thiswith private client work, for instance on behalf of Exxaro Resources.

“We worked quite a lot with them and they were advising across thetable for the government,” according to a client who says the team was“practical”, showed “good knowledge” and kept “things moving for-ward. I give them high marks for knowing their stuff, problem solvingskills, ability to negotiate… and now I recommend them”. Clients alsopraise Lepage as “very strong”: “he has a very good business relationshipwith his clients [and where] you need to be more than just a lawyer”.The firm has a strong profile for PPP, mining and metals, oil and gasand power work, including renewables, and has a very committedAfrica practice.

MattersIn 2012 Agboyibor, Laurent Jaeger and others were busy on large arbi-trations before the ICSID, ICC and African courts of arbitration mostcommonly over breach of contract or concession agreement involvinga state.

Agboyibor and Philippe Hameau were advising Gécamines (DRCstate mining entity) in relation to the takeover of Anvil Mining byChina Minmetals and on a settlement agreement with CopperbeltMinerals, however one of the corporate headline deals saw the firm actfor Exxaro Resources on all aspects (corporate, finance, tax, competi-tion) of a $3.4 billion combination and NYSE listing of the newlyformed holding company Tronox Limited. Nell Scott and Peter O’-Driscoll both played key roles on the deal.

Another headline deal had Agboyibor acting for the government ofthe DRC on Project Inga III, a $9 billion 3500 hydro-power project.In 2012 the firm was assisting on the tender documents.

Reed Smith

In 2012 Reed Smith has been active across a broad range of countriesin Sub-Saharan Africa handling disputes, corporate and finance mat-ters. The firm dealt with corporate and commercial matters, private eq-uity investments, project financings and equity and debt financings inports and shipping, oil and gas, heavy industry and aviation, amongother sectors.

The firm has a close relationship and association with the SouthAfrican Chamber of Commerce (SACC) and helped establish theSACC in the UK. The Africa practice is led by Kyri Evagora, whilePeter Cassidy, who focuses on energy, natural resources, projects andinfrastructure, Samantha Roberts, Alexandra Poe, Vince Gordon (AbuDhabi) appear prominently on matters.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBenin, Cameroon, Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire, DRC,Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania,Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia

Key officesLondon, Paris, New York, Hong Kong

Highlight clientsGécamines, African Development Bank, Exxaro Resources, DRC andCameroon governments

Most active disciplinesDisputes, corporate, banking and finance, EPC

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, US

Key partnersPascal Agboyibor, Yves Lepage, Peter O’Driscoll

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC,Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania,Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, SouthAfrica, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia

Key officesLondon, New York, Abu Dhabi, Paris

Highlight clientsFrontier Resource Group, Cameron International, Quantum GlobalCapital

Most active disciplinesADR, international arbitration, litigation, M&A and joint-ventures,private equity and funds, project finance (energy, resources,infrastructure)


Law capabilityEnglish, French, US, UAE

Key partnersPeter Cassidy, Kyri Evagora, Samantha Roberts



MattersOn the disputes side, Peter Cassidy and Samantha Roberts were repre-senting Meridian Port Holdings in litigation in the Supreme Court ofGhana in a multi-party dispute related to a concession agreement for aport terminal facility at Tema Port, while Cassidy also acted forCameron International in a dispute with a subcontractor for the USANoil and gas development offshore Nigeria.

Roberts led a team to advise Quantum Global Capital on a conces-sion to finance, design, construct and operate a new port in Cabinda,Angola, and International Container Terminal Services on sub-conces-sion agreement for the development and operation of a container ter-minal deep water port at Lekki. The project, expected to complete in2016, involves a £225 million investment.

The firm was also kept busy by Frontier Resource Group (FRG) oncorporate finance matters and won a range of projects mandates in Eastand Central Africa.

Shearman & Sterling

Shearman & Sterling has in relative terms stormed onto the scene, overtime marrying impressive project finance capabilities in London andthe US, under partners such as Tim Pick, with strong Francophone cre-dentials under Christophe Asselineau, who is especially recommendedin mining and metals, in Paris. The firm’s contentious practice in thisfield is regularly considered head and shoulders above the rest.

“We are all raving about their service, we are blown away, they neverever missed a deadline,”, says a client, recommending Pick and Por-tuguese speaking Jean Louis Neves Mendelli: “we liked their approachand they expressed all the issues to us very well, we couldn’t have askedfor better advisors”. Another agrees: “I’ve never come across advisorswho gave better advice on EPC and on PPA. I think we now have a re-ally good concession agreement,”

The firm has done especially well in Mozambique where it has takena central role on some of the headline projects while also managing somehighlight projects in West Africa. The firm is also working with the In-ternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, assisting the Office of theProsecutor, and with the Tribunal of Arusha in Tanzania. The firm oper-ates through informal relations with local counsel and has of late beenworking alongside CGA in Mozambique on numerous matters.

MattersFernando Mantilla-Serrano led a Paris-London team in a successful

representation of ABB as a claimant in an ICC arbitration in Frankfurtagainst an Sub-Saharan African state power entity following termina-tion of a contract.

Asselineau headed another Paris-London team for Sundance Re-sources on the development of the Mbalam/Nabeda iron ore mine, in-cluding the construction of 500km of rail line and a deep sea portterminal, on the Congo-Cameroon border. The project is valued at$4.5 billion. Richard Price, Pick and Ben Shorten were busy workingwith Sasol on a $1 billion bond offering and Vale and ACWA Poweron the development of the 300 MW coal-fired Moatize IPP in Mozam-bique.

The firm also acted on financing for clients including Sasol and Elec-tricidade de Moçambique, on a project financing of a gas to power proj-ect, and lenders including Société Générale on projects in South Africaand Nigeria. Asselineau has a very active practice advising on miningsector matters and in 2012 was assisting African Barrick Gold andTeranga Gold Corporation, among others.

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Skadden Arps’ key strengths are in corporate and M&A matters, underDouglas Nordlinger, and the firm is also recognised for its contentiousand dispute resolution practice.

The firm previously advised Wal-Mart on its acquisition of Mass-mart in 2011 and totalled $3 billion of African M&A deals in 2011,while in 2012 it clinched the lead role advising Vitol Group and HeliosPartners on the acquisition of a majority stake in most of Shell’s down-stream businesses. The firm’s work for the government of South Sudanhas been of critical importance and well exemplifies the calibre of mat-ters the team can handle.

MattersOne of Skadden’s headline roles was advising the Government of SouthSudan on a range of contentious and non-contentious matters. BruceMacaulay and David Herlihy were advising the state in ICSID arbitra-tion in defence against a claim over oil rights by North Sudan, resultingfrom the 2011 independence. Nordlinger meanwhile was working withthe state in multi-billion dollar negotiations over oil rights between thetwo countries and between South Sudan and each oil company withrights to explore, produce or market oil in the country.

Another headline matter was for Vitol Group and Helios Partners.Nordlinger and Shaun Lascelles advised the clients in their acquisitionof the majority of Shell’s stake in most of its downstream business across16 countries for an estimated $1 billion.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Coted’Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya,Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan,South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia

Highlight clientsAES Sonel, Sasol, African Barrick Gold, Sundance Resources, Vale,Sumitomo

Key officesParis, London

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, equity capital markets, corporate andcommercial, M&A and joint-ventures, banking, debt capital markets,project finance (energy, infrastructure, IPP), EPC

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy and cleantechnology, ports

Law capabilityEnglish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, US

Key partnersChristophe Asselineau, Yas Banifatemi, , Emmanuel Gaillard,Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, Tim Pick, Richard Price

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsCape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria,Senegal, South Africa, Sudan (north), South Sudan

Key officesLondon, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Hong Kong

Highlight clientsVitol, Government of South Sudan, Arrow Capital

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, M&A and joint-ventures, private equityand funds

Key sectorsOil and gas

Law capabilityEnglish, French, US,

Key partnersDouglas Nordlinger



Dentons

Dentons operates through a network of formal non-exclusive associa-tions throughout the continent that includes some of the leading firmson the ground. The firm is often recommended for its corporate ex-pertise in energy and infrastructure and clients recommend RichardMacklin and Darren Acres, among others, for their “broad based skillsand extremely good commercial viewpoint”. Paul Bugingo heads thepractice out of London.

MattersThe firm has recently been involved in the construction and develop-ment by Gulf Power of a diesel generation power plant on the AthiRiver in Kenya, funded by the IFC and OPEC Fund.

Stephenson Harwood

Stephenson Harwood’s Africa practice is led by the multi-lingual KamalShah, who has considerable experience working in West and EastAfrica. The firm operates a secondment programme with the ALN andhas an especially strong profile for litigation and disputes.

The firm boasts niche expertise in fraud and asset tracing, commer-cial arbitration, aviation, maritime and corporate, with a strong fran-chise in advising governments. Exemplary recent matters include thefirm’s representation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) in arbitration and Eland Oil & Gas on the acquisition of as-sets from Shell, Total and ENI in Nigeria.

MattersKamal Shah led teams representing the Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC) and Dowans Holding and Dowans Tanzania.The former is a long-running case launched in 2004 and concerningsome $300 million, in which the NNPC is defendant in the UK courtsagainst an attempt to enforce a Nigerian arbitration award made toIPCO Nigeria. In the latter, the firm is assisting the client against theTanzanian Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) in relation to theenforcement of an ICC arbitration award.

A team led by Alex Davis was also advising insurer RSA Cargo inlitigation over a claim relating to the hi-jacking of the Anuket Emeraldoil tanker off West Africa. The case involves Benin and Nigeria. Onthe non-contentious side, Tony Edwards and Jeremy Sheldon led ateam for Eland Oil & Gas in an acquisition of a license and interestsfrom Shell, Total and ENI. The deal was valued at $177 million.

Tauil & Chequer Advogados w/ Mayer Brown

Tauil & Chequer Advogados has carved out a strong expertise in An-gola in particular, where it began working in 2000 advising the Angolangovernment in drafting the Oil & Gas Regulatory Package and hassince spent much time working with Sonangol, Chevron, BP, Total andENI drafting project regulations. The firm maintains an alliance withCFRA Advogados and CK Advogados in Angola.

MattersAlexandre Chequer, Salim Saud and Gonçalo Falcão were in the drivingseat for the firm’s mandates. In 2012/2013 the team was advising MercuryTelecomunicações (Sonangol) on a $1 billion infrastructure project to setup an off-shore optic cable network to connect off-shore working sites.

For Transocean Group, the firm assisted on the corporate restruc-turing of its Angolan entities, while in 2013 the firm was also advisingTidewater/Sonatide (Sonangol) on the establishment of a joint-ventureto provide marine services within the oil sector. A fourth matter sawthe firm working with Maersk Oil to devise a contractual structure, innegotiations with national concessionaire Sonangol, for the develop-ment of off-shore Angola Block 16 Chissonga Discovery. The projectis valued at $4-5 billion.

Trinity International

Trinity has an exclusive focus on Africa and comes highly recom-mended particularly for power projects and project finance in Anglo-phone and southern Africa, as well and for its work on behalf ofdevelopment finance institutions. It is one of the most often recom-mended firms in the energy and infrastructure space, with Paul Biggsand Simon Norris receiving wide praise.

MattersThe firm was advising the lenders to Vestas to fund the installation,commissioning and maintenance of 365 Vestas V52-850KW as partof the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Kenya and on a rail infra-structure project in Malawi and South Africa. Also in Kenya, the teamagain acted for lenders on project financing for Or Power 4 in connec-tion to the Olkaria III geothermal power complex.

In West Africa, the firm was retained by Azura, the developer of anIPP (independent power producer) project in Nigeria, in relation tothe privatisation of the electricity sector and was also advising clientsin relation to Tullow Oil’s $2.9 billion farm out of licenses in Ugandato Total and CNOOC.

2012 Firm OverviewKey partnersPaul Bugingo

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsBenin, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius,Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan,Tanzania, Uganda

Highlight clientsEland Oil & Gas, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC), Dowans Holdings

Key officesLondon

Key partnersKamal Shah, Paul Phillips

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Mozambique, Namibia

Key officesBrazil

Highlight clientsSonangol, Transocean Group, Maersk Oil

Key sectorsOil & Gas, Water, Sewage and Utilities

Law capabilityEnglish, French, US,

Key partnersAlexandre Chequer, Gonçalo Falcão

2012 Firm OverviewKey partnersPaul Biggs, Simon Norris



Vinson & Elkins

Vinson & Elkins is especially busy in Nigeria, where the team hasclocked up over 40 matters over recent years. Although its oil and gaspractice, in Nigeria but also in Angola, South Africa, Ghana, Ugandaand other countries, is its trump card the firm has also been active andbuilding its team in infrastructure and mining and metals.

They “have a good reputation and are sensible,” says a West Africanclient, while clients in the Nigerian oil and gas sector praise the firm asa “professional energy firm with a global network and in-depth capa-bilities… they’ve done a lot of transactions in Africa and obviously theyare a top oil and gas firm”. “We used the oil and gas and private equityteam and both skill sets were very valued,” says a client.

Practice head Alex Msimang, François Feuillat and Kevin Atkins re-ceive praise form clients. “As a team they were excellent support, therewhen we needed them, able to work all hours especially hard when thedeal turned on and off,” says one “Very good on the choreography ofcompletion”.

MattersOn the contentious side Mark Beeley, Christopher Walker, FrançoisFeuillat, Nicholas Song and Nick Roberts were busy representing spon-sors and project companies in litigation in Europe and before Africancourts (with local counsel). The activity focused on Nigeria and SouthAfrica.

Kimberley Wood and Kevin Atkins assisted Cairn India Group in afarm-in deal whereby Cairn and PetroSA signed an acquisition agree-ment for Block I, offshore South Africa. Alex Msimang led a team ona farm-out, assisting Tullow Oil on a farm-out of two thirds of its li-censes in Uganda to Total and CNOOC. The latter was valued at $2.9billion.

The team also acted for Seven Energy on the development of a gassupply project off-shore Nigeria worth over $200 million and an Asianinvestor on a $4 billion investment into a global E&P business and anLNG project.

Werksmans Attorneys

The key names in Werksmans’ practice are Greg Nott, who heads thefirm’s Africa practice, and David Walker, who heads up the energy andinfrastructure department. The firm was a co-founder of the Lex Africanetwork through which is has representation in 29 African countries.The network includes market leading firms in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda,Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana, among others, and provides Werks-mans with possibly the widest coverage of the continent of the SouthAfrican firms.

MattersIn one notable contentious case involving projects in the DRC andDRC registered companies, Des Williams and Pierre Burger repre-sented Kamoto Copper Company against Zhongji Development Con-struction Engineering Company in arbitration following thetermination of a contract. The case related to the supply of cement forthe KOV Mine in the DRC.

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of ), Cote d’Ivoire,Djibouti, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon,Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia,Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan (north),Tanzania, Uganda

Key officesLondon, Houston, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo

Highlight clientsStatoil, China National Oil & Gas Exploration & DevelopmentCorporation, Anadarko, Pioneer Natural Resources, Tullow Oil

Most active disciplinesInternational arbitration, company and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures, private equity and funds, project finance (Energy and IPP)

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, power, industry and manufacturing


Key partnersJames Atkin, Paul Deemer, Alex Msimang, Kimberley Wood

2012 Firm OverviewActive jurisdictionsAngola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Coted’Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, SouthAfrica, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Highlight clientsXstrata South Africa, Total South Africa, Siemens, Toshiba, Glencore,AngloGold Ashanti

Key officesJohannesburg, Cape Town

Most active disciplinesLitigation, company and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures,project finance, EPC, environmental, land, tax

Key sectorsMining and metals, oil and gas, renewable energy and cleantechnology, rail, roads

Law capabilitySouth African. Also French and English qualified lawyers and LexAfrica network firms.

Key partnersGreg Nott, David Walker



White & Case

White & Case is highly respected by peers for both non-contentiousand contentious work. The firm is particularly recommended in SouthAfrica, where it has a strong office, for energy matters and oil and gaswork, on megadeals and for sponsors and lenders. The firm has a long-standing Africa Practice.

The firm benefits from its international scope, leading on mandatesthrough its London, Paris, Asian and Middle Eastern offices. The Paristeam, led by Paule Biensan, has strong experience in concession basedinfrastructure projects, Francophone countries and mining and metals.The London office boasts an 80 strong projects team with Philip Stop-ford at the helm. The team has been active for the lenders on the BrassLNG project in Nigeria.

David Baker is regularly recommended in oil and gas and MichaelPolkinghorne is widely recognised for arbitration and disputes.

Matters The firm, led out of Paris by Paule Biensan, was advising the lendersin relation to the construction of a toll bridge in West Africa, with es-timated financing of !270 million from international finance and de-velopment institutions. In the oil and gas space, a Paris team was alsoadvising a Texas oil company in relation to an equity stake in an off-shore oil field in Ghana.

Also in Ghana, the firm acted for the IFC and other DFIs on financ-ing worth $210 million for the combined-cycle expansion of the Tako-radi power project. Elsewhere in West Africa, Philip Stopford wasleading a team assisting a group of sponsors in relation to a multi-bil-lion alumina refinery project, while David Baker and Jason Kerr wereactive in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. Baker had also worked with a gascompany in relation to its interests in the Songo Songo gas-to-electricityproject in Tanzania.

Wragge & Co

Wragge & Co has made recognised in-roads into the Africa energy andinfrastructure space, specifically in energy and the regulated industries.International project partner Kieron Dwyer and director Joe Levin arerecommended by commentators for their work, notably in upstreamoil and gas financings.

2012 Firm OverviewHighlight clientsBHP Billiton, Mubadala, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund,African Development Bank (ADB)

Key officesParis, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Johannesburg (among others)

Key partnersDavid Baker, Paule Biensan, Jason Kerr, Michael Polkinghorne,Philip Stopford,

INTERNATIONAL FIRMS LEADING LAWYERS


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Pascal Agboyibor Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Bertrand Andriani Linklaters Paris ! ! !

Christophe Asselineau Shearman & Sterling Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Nicholas Azis McDermott Will & Emery London ! !

David Baker White & Case London ! !

Howard Barrie Eversheds London ! ! ! ! ! !

John Beardsworthy Jnr Hunton & Williams Washington DC, ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

RichmondPaule Biensan White & Case Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Paul Biggs Trinity London ! ! ! !

Nina Bowyer Herbert Smith Freehills London ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Stéphane Brabant Herbert Smith Freehills Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Paul Bugingo Dentons Dubai ! ! !

Ian Coles Mayer Brown International London ! ! ! ! ! !

Jeremy Connick Clifford Chance London ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Simon Currie Norton Rose London ! ! ! ! !

Ben Donovan DLA Piper London ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Nikolaï Eatwell Clifford Chance London ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

John Ffooks JWF Legal Madagascar ! ! ! ! !

Clement Fondufe Latham & Watkins Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Anthony Giustini Clifford Chance Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Peter Gray Clyde & Co London ! ! ! ! ! !

Helen Griffiths Slaughter and May London ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Julian Jackson Norton Rose Johannesburg ! ! ! ! ! !

Charles Jacobs Linklaters London ! ! ! !

Andrew Jones Linklaters London ! ! ! ! ! !

Peter Kasanda Clyde & Co Dar-es-Salaam ! ! ! ! ! !

Martin Kavanagh Herbert Smith Freehills London ! ! ! ! !

Ryan Ketchum Hunton & Williams London ! ! ! ! ! !

Ronnie King Ashurst London ! ! !

François Krotoff Gide Loyrette Nouel Paris ! ! !

Yves Lepage Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

David Lewis Clifford Chance London ! ! ! !

Adam Lovett Norton Rose Dar-es-Salaam ! ! ! ! !

Rebecca Major Herbert Smith Freehills Tokyo ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Alain Malek Norton Rose Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Cathy Marsh Milbank Tweed Hadley London ! ! ! ! ! !

& McCloyBoris Martor Eversheds Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Richard Metcalf Norton Rose London ! ! ! ! ! !

Pow

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Leading lawyers We asked partners of law firms, clients and in-house counsel from national andinternational private and public institutions based inside and outside Africa fortheir recommendations of individual practitioners that have impressed in energyand infrastructure work in Sub-Saharan African. Of the partners listed below anumber have broad practices covering many disciplines but we have only indi-cated the specific areas for which they were recommended. Interviewees recom-mended lawyers for their significant experience of one or a number of countriesand regions in Sub-Saharan Africa in the disciplines checked. The majority ofpartners listed indicated that over 50% of their practice was dedicated to Sub-Saharan matters. All the lawyers listed below primarily practice UK, French orUS law, although some are dual qualified in Sub-Saharan jurisdictions.



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Robin Mizrahi Chadbourne & Parke London ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Dominic Morris Allen & Overy London ! ! ! ! !

Alex Msimang Vinson & Elkins London ! ! ! ! !

Douglas Nordlinger Skadden Arps Meagher Slate London ! ! ! ! ! ! !

& FlomSimon Norris Trinity London ! ! ! ! ! !

Peter O'Driscoll Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe New York ! ! ! !

Bob Palmer CMS Cameron McKenna London ! !

Jean-Claude Petilon McDermott Will & Emery Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Tim Pick Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London ! ! ! ! ! !

Nick Prowse Norton Rose London ! ! ! !

Alan Rae Smith Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London ! ! ! !

Simon Ratledge Simmons & Simmons Paris ! ! ! ! !

Peter Roberts Ashurst London ! ! ! ! ! !

Tim Scales Allen & Overy Paris ! ! !

Antony Skinner Ashurst London ! ! ! !

Cameron Smith Ashurst London ! ! ! ! ! !

Mike J Smith Ashurst London ! ! ! ! ! !

Philip Stopford White & Case London ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Neil Upton SJ Berwin London ! ! ! !

Laurent Vandomme Jones Day Paris ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Arun Velusami Norton Rose London ! ! ! ! ! !

Jean-Pierre Vignaud Cleary Gottlieb Steen Paris ! ! ! ! !

& HamiltonGraham Watson Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer London ! ! ! ! !

Rupert Weber McDermott Will & Emery London ! ! ! ! ! !

Kimberley Wood Vinson & Elkins London ! ! ! ! !

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Anthony Albertini Clyde & Co London ! ! !

Yas Banifatemi Shearman & Sterling Paris !

Christian Camboulive Gide Loyrette Nouel Paris ! !

Emmanuel Gaillard Shearman & Sterling Paris !

Jean-Yves Garaud Cleary Gottlieb Steen Paris ! ! !

& HamiltonBen Holland CMS Cameron McKenna London ! !

Charles Kaplan Herbert Smith Freehills London ! ! ! !

Carole Malinvaud Gide Loyrette Nouel Paris !

Fernando Mantilla-Serrano Shearman & Sterling Paris !

Constantine Partasides Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Paris ! !

Philippe Pinsolle Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Paris ! ! !

& SullivanMichael Polkinghorne White & Case Paris ! !

Kamal Shah Stephenson Harwood London ! !

Audley Sheppard Clifford Chance London ! ! !

Jeremy Winter Baker & McKenzie London ! ! !

Michael Young Allen & Overy Paris ! !

International firms - IFLR · International firms ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE Highly recommended...

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Transcript of International firms - IFLR · International firms ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE Highly recommended...