Matthew Wood > Ashurst > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Ashurst remains a dominant force in the oil and gas sector, fielding a team of lawyers with experience in handling mandates across the full value chain, from traditional upstream, midstream and downstream work to clients investing in energy transition. Michael Burns leads the group, attracting a spread of high-profile clients for his in-depth knowledge of project development and M&A, while Julia Derrick, who predominantly deals with sales and acquisitions of hydrogen and oil and gas assets, and Quentin Robinson, who specialises in project development, offer their support. Sanja Udovicic and Matthew Wood are also recommended, with Wood’s finance expertise securing him a wealth of oil and gas cross-border transactions.

Rated for its finance, development and disputes expertise, Ashurst’s deep bench of energy and infrastructure advisers frequently handles marquee projects, both domestically and overseas. Energy transition forms a cornerstone of the practice, with recent instructions relating to renewables, CCUS, hydrogen, energy-from-waste, and water. The team is also noted for its longstanding PFI and PPP capabilities. Projects head for UK and Europe, Terry van Poortvliet, advises global investors, lenders, and developers on bids, joint ventures, project finance and project management and procurement issues, particularly in the transport sector, an area which Mark Elsey is also active in. Patrick Boyle’s pan-European practice focuses on the project financing and refinancing of large-scale transport, renewables and energy transition projects, while PFI/PPP specialist Logan Mair has latterly advised on complex handback issues. Matthew Wood acts for major energy players in Africa and the Middle East on procurement, financing and developments instructions, while Philip Vernon works with UK public authorities and regulators on utilities and energy transition projects. Anthony Johnson also comes recommended.

Ashurst‘s London emerging markets group provides ‘invaluable pragmatic, robust advice‘ on project development, project finance, M&A, capital markets, dispute resolution, competition and antitrust, real estate, tax and much more. Head of the Africa group Yann Alix and head of Africa project finance Matthew Wood are the lead partners. Alix recently advised on the development and financing of a large potash project in Morocco. As well as a strong flow of work in Africa, the firm is growing its presence in other emerging markets and its new India desk, co-led by Kalpana Unadkat and Shishir Mehta, formerly of Khaitan & Co LLP in Mumbai, represents a major investment. The firm also hired Sanja Udovicic from A&O Shearman in May 2023. Udovicic handles energy, natural resource, infrastructure, telecoms and media projects in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Energy and resources sector lawyer Quentin Robinson, and head of international arbitration Matthew Saunders are among many London partners handling a strong flow of emerging markets matters.