Recognised for its ‘in-depth knowledge of the sector’, Ashurst advises on the full array of national and cross-border energy projects, acting on project finance, development, transactions and regulatory mandates regarding high-value conventional generation, peaker, nuclear, battery storage and interconnector projects. The ’impactful’ team also supports procurers, sponsors, lenders and contractors in dispute resolution. The practice is led by Michael Burns, who is experienced in M&A, capital raises and joint ventures in conventional energy and the energy transition. Sonny Udovicic is noted for her work in complex energy project financing structures, acting for financiers, borrowers and sponsors. Gaby Jones has expertise across project development and M&A in the UK and Nordics, while Katie Williams advises on transactions spanning project development, financing and M&A. Quentin Robinson supports clients across the full project and asset lifecycle in the energy transition sector.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The team has an excellent range of coverage and provides advice across a broad range of jurisdictions. The juniors are particularly well-trained and extremely efficient. This is an extremely professionally run team.’

  • 'Incredibly responsive and able to manage large transactions, pulling in advice and support from across the firm seamlessly.'

  • 'In-depth knowledge of the sector and market-standard positions in negotiations helps create a very impactful legal team.'

  • ‘Sonny Udovicic has a remarkable ability to recall the smallest details on complex large-scale project financing structures, which allows her to provide astute solutions to any issues which may arise.’

Key clients

  • Brookfield
  • Equitix
  • Société Générale
  • BNP Paribas
  • Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
  • Deutsche Bank
  • NatWest
  • John Laing
  • Sosteneo
  • Cory Environmental
  • Octopus Energy
  • EP UK Investments Ltd

Work highlights

Advised the selling consortium on the €5bn sale of UK power network operator Electricity North West to Iberdrola.
Advised the financiers on the multi-sourced financing of a greenfield combined-cycle gas turbine power plant of approx. 1,590MW capacity and associated infrastructure in the Surkhandarya region in Uzbekistan.
Advised EP UK Investments Ltd on the acquisition of 50% of West Burton Energy from TotalEnergies.

Practice head

Michael Burns; Terry Van Poortvliet

Other key lawyers

Sonny Udovicic; Gaby Jones; Katie Williams; Quentin Robinson; Samuel Outtridge