Watson Farley & Williams LLP is a key adviser to banks, trading houses and independent companies active in the commodities sector. Sumeet Mahlotra in Singapore and London-based Philip Beswick lead the commodities and international trade practice, which draws upon significant financing expertise in the projects group. For example, Joe Levin, co-head of the global oil and gas practice, leads on upstream finance matters, while projects partner Paul Simpson also handles high-value transactions in the natural resources, power, infrastructure and energy sectors. Beswick and Levin recently assisted Kommunalkredit Austria with a new five-year €25m secured facility to fund the repayment of a reserves-based lending facility.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Daisy East (partner) and Tom Harvey (associate) are very experienced.'
'The people at WFW make a huge difference compared to other legal firms. They are able to efficiently and succinctly propose solutions for legal problems we encounter on deals, rather than only highlighting risks. This is key for our line of work where we are only able to advance origination topics once we have an understanding of solutions.'
'Paul Simpson is an outstanding partner and legal lead. He robustly manages all legal aspects of the deal process (negotiations, explanations, documentation, guidance) from start to end. He and his team are also able to match whichever deal speed we require and have successfully delivered some of the fastest deal timelines. He is well supported by associates Tom Harvey and Georgina Somers.'
Key clients
- African Export-Import Bank
- Trafigura
- JE Energy Ltd
- BW Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd
- Shell Energy Europe Limited (“SEEL”)
- DNB Bank ASA
- CCC Oil and Gas Ltd and Massader (The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Palestine)
- The Republic of Guinea
- Kommunalkredit Austria AG
- Beacon Energy plc
- HSBC Bank plc
- Tamesis Partners LLP
Work highlights
Advising BW Energy on an up to US$300m new international reserve-based lending facility. The facility will be used initially to further finance and develop the Dussafu license off the coast of Gabon.
Advising DNB and the lenders on the refinancing of the over US$2.75bn RBL facility for Harbour Energy plc for its general corporate purposes.
Advising Afreximbank on an agreement to provide a US$300 million facility to Trident OGX Congo in a transaction expected to raise the Republic of Congo’s crude oil production by an estimated 30 per cent.
Lawyers
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Sumeet Mahlotra; Philip Beswick
Other key lawyers
Joe Levin; Daisy East; Tom Harvey; Paul Simpson; Georgina Somers