Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that Jai Khanna has joined the firm’s Energy & Natural Resources industry team as a partner. Khanna brings to the firm a wealth of project finance experience relating to conventional and renewable energy generation facilities, real estate and related infrastructure. He will be based in the firm’s Chicago office. Khanna comes to Husch Blackwell from the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie LLP.
“Jai is a well-rounded finance lawyer, but what really attracted us to him was the depth of project finance experience he has,” said Steve Carman, the head of Husch Blackwell’s Energy & Natural Resources team. “His arrival is a major step forward for our team, enabling us to bundle project finance with the comprehensive transactional, development and regulatory counsel we provide on major energy projects. I believe our clients will be excited to know Jai is on our team.”
Khanna’s finance clientele is broad-based, including large global banks and financial institutions, project developers, equity investors, asset managers, investment funds, and corporate issuers and borrowers. He advises these clients on the structure, documentation, administration, compliance, and workout of senior and mezzanine secured and unsecured loan facilities and has extensive experience with the securitization of a variety of financial asset classes in both the conduit and term markets.
“I look forward to working closely with Husch Blackwell’s renewable energy team,” said Khanna. “They are doing a tremendous amount of work on very high-profile transactions that are defining the future of the industry. My background with the development, tax equity investment and financing of renewable energy projects is a perfect fit.”
Husch Blackwell has handled some of the most high-profile renewable energy transactions in the U.S. and abroad. The team served as counsel to the Aviator Onshore wind project, a 525MW project in Coke County, Texas, the largest single-site, single-phase onshore wind farm to be developed in the U.S. The firm also served as lead counsel for Canada-based Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. in its $608 million crossborder purchase from Abengoa, S.A. of an equity interest in Atlantica Yield plc, the owner/operator of a diversified portfolio of contracted renewable energy, power generation, and electric transmission assets, and in the creation of a global joint venture with Abengoa for the development and construction of clean energy and water infrastructure assets outside of North America.
“We are excited to have Jai on our team, and I know our clients are excited as well,” said Husch Blackwell partner Jim Goettsch. “His practice really captures the essence of our industry-first approach to law: he is a highly regarded finance lawyer but also has a deep understanding of how renewable energy projects work, the challenges those projects encounter, and how to create value for project developers, owners and investors.
