Allen & Overy has acquired Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Project Finance and Renewables Practice to launch its West Coast office. A team of 19 lawyers, including 6 partners have joined Allen & Overy from Akin Gump.
The team will be co-headed by partners Daniel Sinaiko and John Marciano and will be based in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York. Other partners joining the firm are Gregory Lavigne, Matthew Nesburn, Andrea Wang Lucan, and Sam Kamyans. Through the combined experience of the team, Allen & Overy’s expanded practice will provide comprehensive legal services related to domestic renewable energy project work.
The team has previously acted on the Sweihan solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Abu Dhabi, which is currently the world’s largest solar PV plant. It also led the Lāwa’i solar and energy storage project in Hawaii, the first solar plus storage peaker plant in the world, and the Holstein 1 solar project in Texas, one of the first solar hedge deals to make a financial close in the U.S. market.
Before joining Allen & Overy, John and Daniel co-headed Akin Gump’s Global Project Finance Practice. John, based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, advises clients on buying, selling, and financing solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cell, biomass, CHP, and biomass projects. John joined Akin Gump in 2016 from Chadbourne & Parke LLP. Daniel, based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, focuses his practice on the renewable energy sector, and he advises clients on development, debt finance, equity finance, and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Daniel joined Akin Gump in 2011 and was made the co-head of the firm’s Global Project Finance Practice in 2017.
Commenting on his latest appointment, John said, “This is the most significant law firm combination in the U.S. renewables legal sector. We are excited to merge our practice with the largest global project finance team. As the industry matures, the sources of capital have globalized. This combination will be a great resource for clients looking to source and deploy that capital.”
Gareth Price, Global Managing Partner at Allen & Overy, said, “The accelerating transition of the world’s energy infrastructure to a low carbon future creates opportunities for many of our developer and capital provider clients. A&O has long advised on some of the largest and most innovative global energy and infrastructure projects and we are excited to be able to expand our U.S. based client and market coverage by bringing this team of exceptional partners to our firm.”