Team size: 20  

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?   

To ensure organisation resilience, it is of essence to always keep in mind the mission of the organisation that you lead and the within, the mission of the function and/or business unit you lead and how it fits and adds value to the broader organisation and always have them in mind in the long-term, where you would like to see them in many years from now, even if you will not be part of it any longer. Then, regular communication is key to have legal and business strategy aligned, which must occur not only at senior but also at junior level, and feedback bottom up must be constantly considered. It also requires that legal is involved since the outset in defining the business strategy and constantly seeks feedback to adjust to business needs, while clearly setting the boundaries for playing field, in terms of legal and compliance.   

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?   

Blackrock acquisition: Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. recently announced the initial closing and funding of an investment by BlackRock, through its Climate Infrastructure fund. This $500 million investment marks a crucial step in Recurrent Energy’s strategic development, aimed at expanding its solar and energy storage projects in key markets such as the United States and Europe.  

A €1.3bn project facility: We have closed no-recourse project credit facility of €1.3bn ($1.41bn) to accelerate the development of its renewable energy portfolio in Europe. The multi-currency revolving credit facility is available for an initial period of three years from 2024, with extension options.  

444MW portfolio acquisition: An acquisition of a solar PV portfolio in Carmona (Seville), in the south of Spain with a capacity of more than 444MW, now under construction. Recurrent Energy currently has projects in various stages of development in Spain and expects to start construction on more than 1 GW of solar projects in the country in 2024.  

Euro 110 multi-currency facility of up to €110mn from a group of international banks led by Investec Bank Plc. The facility consists of a €55 million term loan and a €55 million revolving credit facility with a total duration of three years. The funding will support Recurrent Energy in the execution of its global solar PV and energy storage project pipeline, as it transitions to become an independent power producer (IPP) and accelerates its growth strategy.   

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?   

We have integrated technology by addressing simple issues, mostly related to corporate matters and approval processes through dedicated chatbot that the aim is to further expand into a specific tool to automate also approval processes, while we are testing tool to diligence projects through artificial intelligence.  

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in Italy over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?   

Being Italy of the main manufacturing countries in Europe, the main challenge relates to the cost of energy which risks putting the entire manufacturing sector off market. To this end it is key that renewable energy ensures more independence and stability in energy supply at a lower cost, which is already a reality in some regions. In addition, energy storage will be key to ensure time-shifting and higher dispatchability of renewable energy supply.