Paul Hill > Browne Jacobson LLP > Birmingham, England > Lawyer Profile

Browne Jacobson LLP
15th Floor
103 Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 3AG
England

Work Department

Business Services

Position

Paul Hill is a partner in the Banking and Finance team principally based in Birmingham and he also serves as the sector head for Energy and Infrastructure at Browne Jacobson.

Since joining Browne Jacobson in 2019 Paul has made a real impact in the West Midlands market, not only through integration into the commercial community but also through building and developing client relationships. He has also been able to leverage strong interconnections between the West Midlands and London. He has advised on a number of high profile deals including:

(1) Rcapital Partners in connection with their portfolio of debt/equity investments in new and existing businesses;
(2) Blazehill Capital (and certain founder investors) on the set up of a new alternative lender;
(3) Quilam Capital in connection with their portfolio debt/equity investments in new and existing businesses;
(4) IB Group in connection with their corporate refinancing and subsequently the raising of CLBILS finance;
(5) PBE Group on a multi-jurisdictional holdco corporate financing;
(6) NatWest in connection with the provision of a revolving credit facility to a UK university; and
(7) LDC in connection with their successful exit of Addo Food Group to European private equity firm PAI Partners.

Within the energy and infrastructure sector, Paul has utilised his strong connections, reputation and capability to bring together the breadth of experience across the wider firm to provide a strong fully packaged offering in this area. This has culminated in a stream of high profile work, including advising on some of the highest profile recent infrastructure acquisitions in the UK market and has secured a number of collaboration opportunities in the sphere with large UK City and US white-chip firms. Selected highlights in this sector include advising:

(1) First Sentier Investors in connection with their successful c £1 billion acquisition of energy-from-waste assets from SSE plc and  their subsequent acquisition of the entirety of the Wheelabrator UK EfW business from Macquarie;
(2) a global asset manager in respect of their proposed purchase of Suez’s UK recycling and recovery business;
(3) PBE Group on a multi-jurisdictional holdco corporate financing;
(4) AFC Wimbledon on the debt/equity financing and construction of their new football stadium;
(5) Manchester County Council in connection with a District Heating Project;
(6) Oxford University Trust in connection with a hospital PFI;
(7) Performances Birmingham on the financing and redevelopment of Symphony Hall;
(8) Homes England on a variety of and
(9) Derby County Council on the termination of the Derbyshire EfW Waste Project.

Paul has also secured a UK panel appointment for Hydromine Inc, a sustainable energy company focussed on the power plant origination and investment, on-boarded Sculptor Capital, a global alternative asset manager, as a client of the firm and has been involved in a number of panel tenders for large FTSE companies.

Career

Paul is a banking and finance partner and head of energy and infrastructure at Browne Jacobson. He specialises in all aspects of general corporate lending, infrastructure finance, acquisition finance, project finance and restructuring spanning across bilateral, syndicated and debt platform structures. He advises across the stakeholder pool including borrowers, sponsors (across corporates, private equity houses, institutional investors and asset managers), financiers (including alternative debt providers) and public sector bodies.

Paul joined the firm in 2019 after having spent 10 years at Allen & Overy in their globally leading Projects practice. He has extensive experience advising on PFI/PPP and infrastructure acquisition/financing transactions across a broad range of energy and infrastructure sectors. Paul has led and advised on some of the largest and most complex national and international transactions, many of which are award winning, advising across the stakeholder pool. Paul continues to lead significantly sized and multi-disciplined Browne Jacobson teams in connection with large E&I projects.

Paul spent time on secondment at High Speed 1 on two separate occasions gaining invaluable experience as life as a client and has also spent time working in the United Arab Emirates.

  • Browne Jacobson LLP – March 2019-Present
  • Allen & Overy LLP – September 2008-March 2019

Education

  • Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 2010
  • LPC (distinction), College of Law, Moorgate (2007 – 2008)
  • LLB Law, University of Warwick (2004 – 2007)

Lawyer Rankings

West Midlands > Projects, energy and natural resources > Energy, project finance and PFI

(Leading individuals)

Paul Hill Browne Jacobson LLP

Browne Jacobson LLP offers ‘a highly pragmatic, commercial approach’ and a full-service practice in the energy and infrastructure sector, working for a broad array of stakeholders in numerous sub-sectors, notably including the alternative energy space. Certain key areas for the firm include power generation, renewables, and nuclear, to name a few. The ‘exceptional’ Paul Hill helms the practice, with vast experience of numerous areas including project finance, and greenfield and brownfield projects. Zoe Stollard joined the firm from Clarke Willmott LLP in March 2022, bringing with her significant expertise in the field of nuclear and renewable energy, and with a broader focus on non-contentious work. Nick Smee further strengthens the team, with particular experience of the automotive, aerospace and manufacturing arenas.

West Midlands > Finance > Banking and finance

Browne Jacobson LLP, a team that offers an ‘excellent service’, undertakes a broad range of work that encompasses structured finance, private equity funding and general corporate financing for clients that include lenders and corporates. It works in multiple sectors, notably construction, energy and infrastructure. Emma Hinton leads the practice, possessing expertise with non-bank funders and health and social care, as well as a focus on ESG. Paul Ray is experienced in litigation and sustainable finance, and Paul Hill specialises in corporate lending and infrastructure finance.