Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP announced that Aled Davies, a leading project finance lawyer known for his work on large-scale infrastructure and energy projects around the world, will be joining the firm as a partner in the Tokyo office effective September 1 and in so doing will become a member of Milbank’s Global Project Finance group.
Mr. Davies will join from Allen & Overy, where he was head of the Asia Pacific Projects group. An English solicitor, Mr. Davies has been based in Tokyo since 1996 and is a registered gaikokuho jimu bengoshi in Japan.
Mr. Davies advises key stakeholders – including sponsors, lenders, developers and export credit agencies – on large projects globally. He has led financing and project development teams on projects throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Russia and the CIS region, Africa and North America.
One of the most recent projects which he led is the Ichthys LNG project, a liquefied natural gas facility being developed in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, Australia. Scheduled to begin operating in 2016, the US$34 billion Ichthys LNG project is the largest project financing ever. Mr. Davies has also recently worked on other major LNG, mining, refinery/petrochemical and power projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, Australia and across the Middle East.
Mr. Davies is recognized among the elites of the project finance market. He is listed by Chambers as a 1st Tier lawyer in both Japan and for Asia overall, as well as for general banking in Japan. He was also recently included among IFLR’s Top 30 Project Finance lawyers in the world.
“As our project finance practice continues to set the industry standard, we are fortunate to gain the talents of Aled Davies, who has led high-profile financings in every corner of the globe, with an emphasis on high-impact energy and natural resource development,” said Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman. “His arrival also underscores our commitment to Japan, where we recently marked our 35th anniversary as the first international law firm in Tokyo.” The Tokyo office is headed by another international project finance partner, Alexander Borisoff.
At Milbank, Mr. Davies joins one of the world’s premier project finance practice teams, with more than 100 dedicated lawyers in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, London, Frankfurt, São Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In the last three years, Milbank has closed on more than 140 project financings, raising more than US$125 billion for energy, transportation, infrastructure and other projects worldwide.
The group has earned a host of industry accolades, including a designation as Global Project Finance Team of the Year by Project Finance International. IFLR selected four Milbank project finance partners for its “Best of the Best” in 2011; with Mr. Davies the firm now boasts five, more than any other law firm. Chambers Global recently named Milbank Law Firm of the Year in Indonesia, based in large part on the firm’s project finance work across that country. Milbank advises on projects spanning oil and gas, petrochemicals, power and energy, infrastructure and water, telecom, space and satellite, waste disposal and recycling, natural resources, transportation and other key sectors and public works. Click here for fuller description of the Project Finance practice.
David Zemans, Milbank’s partner in charge of Asia, noted the close ties Mr. Davies brings with key sources of project financing in the region. That includes major Japanese banks such as BTMU, Mizuho and SMBC who are among the most active project lenders in the world, but also multilateral lenders and export credit agencies that play an increasing role in the sector.
“With a shortage of commercial banks in the infrastructure loan market, the big multi-sourced deals are invariably funded by multilaterals and export credit firms, including JBIC and NEXI in Japan, and K-Exim and K-Sure in Korea,” Mr. Zemans said. “Aled has deep relationships within these institutions, as well as with the leading commercial lenders and investment houses, and his connections within the energy and infrastructure communities are equally extensive. Our project finance platform gets that much stronger with Aled, for both English and New York law governed transactions.”
In addition to his project work, Mr. Davies often advises clients on asset-based financings, including tax-based leasing of large drillships and other vessels used in energy exploration.
“Having been heavily involved in project finance and development work for many years, I have crossed paths numerous times with Milbank lawyers and have always held the firm in the highest regard,” Mr. Davies said. “Milbank has the resources, international reach, breadth of project experience and understanding of global financial markets to support my clients in this specialized and challenging field,” Mr. Davies added. “I am very excited to be joining Milbank’s project finance team.”
