Madhavi Gosavi > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Norton Rose Fulbright is recommended by clients for its ‘capability to offer creative solutions despite pressure, and work as one team with its clients‘. The firm has an extensive emerging markets practice in London, and is active in Francophone and Anglophone Africa, the Middle East, the CIS region, Latin America and in Southeast Asia. Its work focuses on key sectors such as mining, agriculture, oil and gas, power and infrastructure development, and commodity trading, covering transactional work, finance and disputes. Martin McCann, who has extensive experience in infrastructure, mining, commodities and project finance, is head of the London emerging markets group. He acted for Horizonte Minerals PLC in arranging a $660m financing package for the construction and development of an Araguaia ferronickel mine in Brazil. Head of banking and finance Madhavi Gosavi is a key adviser on structured financings, project financings and restructurings. She recently assisted the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Angola with the $1bn financing of the Bita water production, transmission and distribution system in South Luanda. Corporate partner Raj Karia is a key member of the firm’s mining and minerals practice, and Bayo Odubeko, also in the corporate team, focuses on cross-border energy investments into Africa.

Steered by the highly experienced renewable energy and energy transition specialist Rob Marsh, Norton Rose Fulbright ‘s infrastructure practice has had an impressive year, pulling in a large volume of work acting for both public and private bodies on a series of complex and significant cross-border mandates. With emerging markets seeing more investment than ever before, the group has helmed high-profile deals for a mix of leading players in Africa, including the governments of Angola and Nigeria. Exemplifying the firm’s skillset in this region is Madhavi Gosavi, who has had near-unparalleled exposure to the continent. In the UK, the firm has been deeply involved in the UK’s Project Cavalry, which involves the financing, development and delivery of eight projects relating to police, schools and judicial courts extension and build programmes. Martin McCann‘s eminent reputation continues to generate a considerable amount of work for the practice, while Andrew Buisson leverages construction experience to act on  PFI/PPP projects. Daniel Metcalfe has deep financing knowledge and acts on a number of renewables and digital infrastructure mandates across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Jessica Melville advises lenders, sponsors and governments on a wide array of assets and has been a key supporting presence on the practice’s most consequential instructions.

At Norton Rose Fulbright, the ‘responsive and knowledgeable’ finance team handles a considerable volume of acquisition finance work for its creditor-focused client base. Michael Black , who co-heads the team alongside energy and infrastructure finance expert Madhavi Gosavi , has broad knowledge across myriad finance products, including a market-leading ABL offering, which he regularly deploys as a key part of the finance package to facilitate large-scale cross-border acquisition finance deals. The firm’s emerging markets prowess also regularly elicits acquisition and event-driven finance mandates for commercial and development banks.

The ‘diverse, long-standing and focused’ practice at Norton Rose Fulbright is headed up by Rob Marsh, who is vastly experienced in the financing of energy projects. The team ably advises both developers and lenders on the full gamut of energy work which spans an array of sectors, including solar, onshore wind and renewables. The team is well-equipped to handle complex matters at both domestic and international level. Charles Whitney, for example, has an incredible focus on a range of work in Uzbekistan, and is described as a standout practitioner.’ Christopher Down, noted as a ‘thoughtful and dedicated partner’ also has a specialism in this international work. ‘Exceptional operator’ Stephen Rigby has a focus on UK energy and natural resources-related corporate finance work, and Madhavi Gosavi, also finance-focused, is another name to note. Finance specialist Nicky Davies has bolstered the London team with her July 2022 internal relocation from the firm’s Singapore office. Matthew Hardwick  and Daniel Giemajner both departed to Akin in September 2022.

The ‘practical and innovative’ team at Norton Rose Fulbright has gained a particularly strong reputation advising lenders and corporates on syndicated emerging markets deals, where it is able to provide a value-add service through the effective use of legal tech and partnering with lawyers across the firm’s vast international network. Neha Khosla  leads on much of this work from London and has built up a strong reputation for her collaborative approach and strength at advising on multi-source financings. As well as his role as global IBOR transition head, Davide Barzilai has ‘wide experience in different areas of bank lending’, including ECA-supported mandates, ABL and Islamic finance, ensuring that he is a popular choice on complex international syndicated mandates. ABL expert Michael Black  heads up the general London banking team, while Madhavi Gosavi  is head of banking and finance for the EMEA region.