‘Highly professional, pragmatic with a global reach’, Norton Rose Fulbright is truly embedded in emerging markets work for major corporates, borrowers, sponsors, investment banks, government bodies, ECAs, multi-laterals and off-takers. Leveraging its extensive global network of offices, the firm is prominent in mining, oil and gas, power and renewables, infrastructure development, and commodity trading in jurisdictions across Africa, the Middle East and CIS region and Latin America. Martin McCann, who has extensive experience in infrastructure, mining, commodities and project finance, is head of the London emerging markets group. Madhavi Gosavi and Daniel Metcalfe are key advisers on the development and financing of energy and infrastructure projects, and Charles Whitney handles project financings involving ECAs, particularly in the CIS region, Central Asia and the Middle East. Corporate partners Raj Karia, who is part of the firm’s mining and minerals practice, and Bayo Odubeko are among the many partners keenly focused on emerging markets work.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Highly professional, pragmatic with a global reach. All the partners have a “let’s get it done” attitude in a timely and cost-efficient way, which is not always the case with their competitors.'
- 'Excellent lawyers with a deep understanding of the sector I work in and experience of what and the lawyers may or may not accept.'
‘NRF stands out for its long-standing experience in Uzbekistan handling most of the high-value and complex transactions from subsoil to infrastructure, from project finance to energy, from eurobonds to petrochemicals etc. Key strengths are the expertise, capacity and availability of the team.’
‘I would specifically mention Charles Whitney and Chris Down, who are engaged in massive energy projects for renewables and CCGT in Uzbekistan. Charles Whitney has a great track-record of advising his clients in Uzbekistan, for decades. He stays abreast with recent policy and legislative developments.'
'Chris Down is a very dedicated and committed partner who spends lots of his efforts on energy deals in Uzbekistan. He is very reasonable, delicate and diplomatic when negotiating with the Government, and he knows how to persuade parties to find compromise.'
‘The NRF team has a very commercial approach and tries to tackle the issues with the client's best commercial interest in mind. They are very competent and professional in all senses of these words. Highly recommend their team to clients wishing to make business in the energy sector in Uzbekistan.’
‘I have worked with the teams of two partners - Charles Whitney and Chris Down. Both lawyers are exceptional in what they do. Charles Whitney is a banking and finance lawyer that is very active in Uzbekistan. He has a very good commercial awareness and is good at finding compromises and achieving his clients' goals.'
- 'Chris Down is a project lawyer. He is very attentive to details, but at the same time keeps the bigger picture in this mind. What I like about Chris is that he is so intelligent that he grasps complicated Uzbek-law issues easily, and keeps them in mind.’
Key clients
- Africa Finance Corporation
- Ministry of Finance, Angola
- EBRD
- Ministry of Finance, Pakistan
- The Development bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
- GuarantCo
- Infinity Power
- IFC
- MUFG
- Masdar
- Societe Generale
- Standard Chartered Bank
- LATAM
- Horizonte Minerals plc
- Republic of Kazakhstan
Work highlights
- Advised a consortium, consisting of Marubeni Corporation and Transelec, on the development and financing of an independent water plant (IWP) in Chile. It will potentially be the largest transaction in Chile in 2023.
- Advising Lenders (Société Générale and Nedbank) in relation to the senior project financing of Ivanhoe’s world-scale Platreef palladium-rhodium-nickel-platinum-copper-gold project in Limpopo Province, South Africa in an amount of up to US$150 million.
- Advising the Ministry of Finance of Angola on the financing of the first phase of a Light Rail project from Kilamba to Zamba 2 in Luanda, Angola with an estimated contract amount of EUR 1,300,000,000.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Martin McCann