Eversheds Sutherland hires Freshfields lawyer to co-lead project finance

A general view of London. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Yann Tessier

(Reuters) – Anglo-American law firm Eversheds Sutherland said Thursday it has added a longtime Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner to co-chair its global project finance practice.

A partner at UK-founded Freshfields since 2003, Alex Carver advises clients on infrastructure transactions including greenfield project financings and brownfield acquisitions, Eversheds said in a statement.

In greenfield financing, a company sets up its own facilities. In brownfield acquisitions, companies purchase or lease existing infrastructure.

Carver’s clients have included German conglomerate Siemens, financial services group Macquarie and European infrastructure investor Infracapital, according to his bio on Freshfields’ website.

Carver’s online Freshfields bio also said in the past he represented VTB Capital, a subsidiary of Russian financial institution VTB Bank, on the Saint Petersburg Pulkovo Airport $1.8 billion public-private-partnership project in Russia.

VTB Bank and its subsidiaries have been put on U.S. and UK sanctions lists since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

When asked about VTB on Thursday, a Freshfields spokesperson cited a March 7 statement that said the firm has taken “immediate steps to terminate, suspend or decline mandates” with companies or individuals “with close ties to the Russian state.”

The statement also said the firm is “taking immediate steps to terminate our litigation mandate with VTB.”

Carver last year advised international investment company John Laing on its proposed $2.84 billion acquisition by investment firm KKR, according to a statement on Freshfields’ website.

Carver’s addition is part of 3,000-attorney Eversheds’ ongoing investment in the finance and infrastructure space to meet an increasing client demand, head of Eversheds Sutherland’s finance group Simon Waller said in a statement.

London has seen movement in the market for finance and infrastructure partners over the last month with UK-based Osborne Clarke and Linklaters picking up three finance partners each, and NY-based Schulte Roth & Zabel hir ing a finance and derivatives partner from Dentons.

Another Freshfields spokesperson on Thursday wished Carver well in his new position.

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