Editorial: Project Finance in Singapore

01 October 2007

Allen & Overy Shook Lin & Bok is a joint law venture that benefits a great deal from its combination of international and local expertise. It fields three practitioners in this chapter (more than any other firm) and has been involved in the financing of some of the region’s largest projects, including the 2006 financing of the Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia. Nicholas Crossin has had a “meteoric rise to the top” and was described by more than one competitor as “brilliant”. He is heavily involved in the Tangguh project and has a great deal of experience in the financing of such projects. He has industry experience too, having been seconded to Shell International in London in 2002. Kayal Sachi also worked on the Tangguh project and has been lead partner on deals such as the C2C submarine cable financing and the SembCogen merchant power plant financing. John Richards is “very well known” and completes the impressive entry for the firm. Richards’ expertise in Islamic finance was noted on several occasions. 

White & Case LLP also has a strong reputation in project finance and fields two “excellent” practitioners in this chapter. Brian Miller was described as “brilliant – the best power lawyer in Asia”. Miller has been in Singapore since 1997, having previously worked in White & Case’s Jakarta and Bangkok offices. His CV includes projects in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Aside from his work on power projects, Miller has also been involved in a wide variety of infrastructure and industrial projects throughout Asia. These have included refinery projects, shipbuilding facilities, pulp mills, steel mills, minerals facilities, cement plants, fertiliser plants and telecommunication facilities. Brad Roach has been credited as “superb operator” who has represented BG in connection with various projects, including the disposal of its 10.73 per cent interest in the Tangguh LNG Project. Roach’s practice focuses on the upstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry. He is also included in the oil and gas chapter of this publication. 

Ashurst is also a “leading firm” that provides two partners for this chapter. Matthew Bubb is “extremely active”, especially in the PFI/PPP field in which he advises clients in the power, oil, gas, water, petrochemical, mining, transportation, health and education sectors. Ashley Wright advises on the financing of oil, gas, LNG, power and petrochemical projects and is also included in our oil and gas chapter. Wright joined Ashurst from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP in January 2007 and has previously worked as an in-house legal adviser for BP. 

Lovells Lee & Lee is another firm with two nominees in this chapter. James Harris comes “highly recommended” as “a great team leader”. 2006 was an excellent year for the firm and for Harris, who advised DZ Bank, ING Bank and Mizuho Corporate Bank on the first project financing of a Singapore utility asset awarded under the PPP model – the Fifth Incineration Project. He also led the team advising on the redevelopment of Singapore’s National Stadium. Competitors have “heard very good things” about partner Ken Hawkes. He advised the lenders on the S$525 million financing for the Keppel Merlimau merchant power project in Singapore and the sponsors on the 716MW gas-fired Phu My 3 power project in Vietnam. 

Bill Mccormack from Shearman & Sterling LLP is another lawyer with over a decade of experience in the region. McCormack has worked on projects throughout Asia and the Middle East. In Singapore he has worked on matters such as the financing of the Island Power project and the project financing of an oil-receiving terminal for Horizon Limited. He also represented Dishnet in the proposed financing of a US$1.3 billion undersea fibre optic cable system to connect Chennai in India to Singapore, Guam and the US. 

Martin David is a Linklaters partner practising at the joint law venture of Linklaters Allen & Gledhill in Singapore. He came highly nominated for his work in energy and construction – previous experience as a civil engineer stands him in good stead. Paul Elliott from Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow has had an extremely busy 12 months. He was lead partner on the project development and financing of a 1,400MW gas-fired power plant in Thailand. Clients and peers praised Elliott for his “impressive work ethic” and “attention to detail”. 

Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP’s David Zemans has a “great reputation and is a pleasure to work with”, according to one prominent source. Zemans also features in our capital markets chapter, where he is equally well-regarded. His project finance practice has seen him working on broad based matters in the energy sector. 

Norton Rose LLP can boast of the inclusion of Jeff Smith in this chapter. Smith is experienced in energy, infrastructure and telecommunications project financing and has advised on three recent Singapore PPP projects – a waste project, the Singapore SportsHub project and the Ministry of Defence Basic Wing Course project. Joseph Anderson is the managing partner for the Singapore office of Morrison & Foerster LLP. He is a member of the advisory committee of Powergen Asia and the founder and co-chairman of the Public Lender and Insurer Infrastructure Finance Summit. Anderson has considerable experience negotiating finance documents and project contracts and has worked on matters in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. 

Tan Joo Thye from Rodyk & Davidson LLP is a practitioner that competitors “see all the time” and “have a great deal of respect for”. Tan has represented a Singapore- based company in the financing of a pulp mill and chips mill in Indonesia as well as advising on the financing of a water supply related facility for an Indonesian-based company. 

Stephen Mcwilliams from Latham & Watkins LLP completes our list. McWilliams was part of the team that represented the Asian Development Bank and the onshore and offshore commercial bank lenders in the BLCP Power project. His work in the project finance area is widely regarded as “impeccable” and he has been involved in projects that include the financing of a wind power project in Korea, a gas-fired combined cycle plant in Kwangyang, South Korea and the greenfield Nanhai Petrochemicals Complex in Guangdong Province in China.

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