Gareth Baker > Gowling WLG > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Regularly collaborating with the Dubai team on international work, Gowling WLG provides comprehensive advisory services in the power sector. The team assists a wide spectrum of energy market participants with various electricity and nuclear power-related transactions, including electricity generation and grid-stability projects, regulatory advice, and nuclear power station decommissioning. Key team members include Gareth Baker, who specialises in M&A and project development; Helen Emmerson, who focuses on energy generation facilities, grid connection requirements, and regulatory advice; John Cooper, a public and regulatory law specialist; Jonathan Brufal, who primarily handles international project development from the London and Dubai offices; UK electricity expert Gus Wood and project finance specialist Nath Curtis. Other key contacts include James Stanier, who focuses on complex commercial and regulatory matters in the electricity sector, and Paul Green, a construction and engineering specialist with a focus on major infrastructure and energy generation projects.

Gowling WLG provides comprehensive advice across a range of renewable energy projects, including the development, financing, and acquisition of battery energy storage systems, as well as M&A and financing for green hydrogen, solar, and wind energy projects. Key members of the team include Gareth Baker, who specialises in renewable energy M&A, private equity, and project development; Gus Wood, recognised for handling some of the UK’s most significant PPAs in the renewables sector; Nath Curtis, an expert in project finance who routinely advises clients on the funding and refinancing of major renewable energy assets; and Paul Green, who handles a range of renewable energy infrastructure projects including onshore and offshore wind, solar, biomass, and energy from waste. Helen Emmerson and Jonathan Brufal are also recommended.

Gowling WLG acts for a range of domestic and European PE houses, as well as management teams, on deals across the IT, financial services, infrastructure and education sectors. Practice head Ian Piggin works with a series of mid-market investment firms, particularly on life sciences and healthcare deals. Another key figure for life sciences and healthcare-focused transactions, Neil Hendron‘s regular workload includes investments, management buyouts, bolt-ons, and disposals. Birmingham-based Chris Towle advises on some of the firm’s most substantial tech deals, while Gareth Baker – who co-leads the firm’s global energy sector group – draws on his sectoral knowledge when overseeing energy and infrastructure-focused M&A and investments. Christopher Letters and Chelsie Taylor also come recommended.

The projects and infrastructure practice at Gowling WLG ‘has an impeccable understanding and experience of challenges faced when doing banking deals in emerging markets‘, and clients praise the team for providing ‘solution-oriented and pragmatic advice‘. The bench of partners includes head of international projects Jonathan Brufal; corporate energy specialist Gareth Baker; project finance experts Andrew Newbery and Imran Mufti; head of natural resources Charles Bond; impact finance lawyer Alasdair McKenzie; and standout international arbitration partner Gordon Bell. McKenzie helped to set up the world’s first climate-focused guarantee company to provide $1bn in climate finance for developing countries.

Noted for its ‘strong presence across the market,’ Gowling WLG‘s corporate practice has established itself as a solid firm for cross-border M&A, working with clients from a range of sectors including real estate, life sciences, healthcare, energy, and engineering. The team is jointly led by Gareth Baker and Sunil Kakkad; Baker specialises in energy and infrastructure transactions, while Kakkad has noteworthy expertise advising Indian businesses on cross-border transactions and capital raises. European PE head Ian Piggin, a healthcare and life sciences authority, focuses on private equity and venture capital funds. Neil Hendron is also well versed in financial services sector matters. Madhu Jain, who joined the firm in February 2024 from Pinsent Masons LLP, boasts considerable experience working with insurers and reinsurers. Rebecca Burford, who joined the group in February 2024 from Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, handles a slew of transactions including management buy-outs, seed capital and growth capital investments, and joint ventures. Other key contacts include Siân Dewing and Chelsie Taylor.