CMS acts for clients on a variety of infrastructure transactions across the energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure sectors. The team is an established port of call for an array of sponsors, corporates, and lenders. Leadership within the team is split between Paul Smith, who is called upon by a range of infrastructure funds, and Kristy Duane, whose practice is focused on advising clients from the energy sector. Danielle Heath‘s transactional experience spans acquisitions, disposals, and portfolio transactions. A further key contact is Doug Land, who regularly acts for clients from the utilities, defence, and aviation sectors.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Chris McGarvey is a hands-on partner and provides excellent advice on M&A transactions relating to energy projects. He has an excellent understanding of all aspects of energy projects, and this shows in his wide-reaching support.
- Chris McGarvey and Nicholas Carroll provide consistent support for our M&A transactions. They make themselves available and provide a quick turnaround. Chris provides practical and commercially smart advice to protect his client's interests while getting the deal done.
- The breadth of experience, sector knowledge, and strategic nous are exceptional and really stand this team out from the crowd. A brilliant group of highly talented individuals, operating with best-in-class legal expertise and tactical awareness, makes them a joy to work with.
- The individuals I worked with stood out for their legal expertise, commercial approach, and calm handling of complex matters. They were responsive, reliable, and able to explain difficult legal points in a clear and practical way. Kristy Duane (partner) was particularly impressive. She brought strong judgment, deep infrastructure M&A experience, and a clear understanding of the commercial drivers behind the transaction. Her advice was not just legally accurate, but also practical and decision-focused. Freddie May (associate) was also excellent - very responsive and detail-oriented, which was particularly important for the workstream he was leading on (offtake contract analysis). He helped us navigate the diligence process efficiently and ensured that we understood the risk properly, clearly communicated all the potential downsides/developments, as well as diligently implemented all the comments and addressed next steps as required. Overall, the team gave confidence throughout the transaction and delivered a high-quality service.
Key clients
- AXA Real Estate Investment Managers
- Apatura
- British Columbia Investment Management Corporation
- Aquila European Renewables Plc
- SSE plc
- Macquarie Asset Management
- Transmission Investment
- Balfour Beatty
- Equitix
- Equinor
- Assured Guaranty
- Green BESS Developments (UK) Limited
Work highlights
Advised HICL Infrastructure plc on its sale of a portfolio of seven UK PPP assets to APG.
Advised AXA Investment Managers Alts on its acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Coalburn 1, a 500MW battery energy storage system from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
Advised the shareholders of Transmission Investment on the sale of Transmission Investment to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC.
Practice head
Paul Smith; Kristy Duane
Other key lawyers
Danielle Heath; Doug Land; Nick Blair