The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan in association with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Senior Attorney

Riccardo is one of the senior Western lawyers of The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan LLC and is based in our head office in Riyadh. Riccardo is an Italian, a former partner of the law firm BonelliErede, Cairo, Egypt, and specializes in banking and finance, construction and engineering infrastructure, energy and ecological transition. Among his other expertise are:

• Risk assessments for foreign investors in developing infrastructure and energy projects in North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria) and other African countries (Kenia and Ethiopia).

• Banking and finance (export and project finance and corporate finance), project contracts (EPC, O&M and service agreements) and advice on general corporate matters (MoU, JV, investment agreement).

Riccardo’s experience includes advising:

• clients on all aspects and negotiated and drafted the project and finance documentation and ancillary documentation (security documents, guarantees, insurance documentation, credit documentary documents, and bonds).

• clients in several corporate finance transactions (acquisition/leverage/takeover/LBO deals and commodity finance) and supporting the firm’s corporate team with financing matters connected to M&A transactions.

• Project Wright / Ital Gas Storage: First-ever project financing to develop an Italian gas-storage site – it won the award IJGlobal Awards “European Midstream Oil & Gas” (2016).

• Etrion S.p.A.: Refinancing of the entire debt of its subsidiaries across Italy through financing and a bond issue on a project finance basis.

• 3Sun Project: First-ever project financing of an Italian factory that produces photovoltaic cells.

Riccardo is also author of a number of published works and articles:

• “Overcoming bankability issues to make renewable energy feasible in Ethiopia”

• Article / interview: “Power surge: Why Egypt's renewable energy sector needs corporate PPAs”

• Article: “Investing in renewables energy in Ethiopia”

• Position paper: “Addressing financial risks of renewable energy investment in East Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya)”

• Article: “Elettrificazione delle aree rurali – Soluzioni Off-grid da fonti rinnovabili, problemi di bancabilità”

• Article: “Will Egypt's floating currency attract investment and support exports?”

Italian, Spanish, English

Member, Milan Bar Association

LLM, American University Washington College of Law Washington, DC, 1999