Jonathan Simpson

Partner, Head of Infrastructure

Dubai, UAE

Jonathan has over thirty years of practicing experience having practiced in London, Singapore, Paris and Dubai. He has previously been a partner at a number of leading global law firms.

Jonathan has a broad global practice acting for Multinational Sponsors, Financial Institutions and National Governments in emerging markets. His practice experience has been focused on:

Project Finance
Project Development & Construction
Mergers & Acquisitions
Structured Finance & Derivatives
Arbitration

Jonathan has wide sectoral experience advising on transactions in the following sectors:

Transport Infrastructure
Power & Renewables
Oil & Gas
Mining & Resources
Petrochemicals
Telecommunications

Many of the transactions he has worked on have been first of their kind or “pathfinder” deals. He has developed a speciality on successfully advising countries rebuild their infrastructure after conflict or natural disaster. He is noted for having successfully so advised in Libya, South Sudan, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Arbitration & ADR
Banking & Finance
Commercial
Construction & Engineering
Energy & Natural Resources
International Trace, Transport & Maritime
Real Estate

Infrastructure (Transport)

Airports

Advising the Republic of Croatia in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Euro 375 million Zagreb Airport Project and subsequently on its refinancing.
Advising the Republic of Croatia in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Zagreb Airport Logistics Centre.
Advising the Republic of Croatia in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of Zagreb Airport City.
Advising Barclays Bank plc in connection with the financing and development of the Luton Airport.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new Cargo Airport near Dernah, Libya.

Motorways

Advising Aktor and Housing and Construction in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Euro 1.5 billion Montenegro motorway project.
Advising Aktor and Macquarie Bank in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a Euro 1 billion Romanian motorway project.
Advising a bidder in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the M6 Motorway project.
Advising CIBC Wood-Gundy in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the A19 Motorway project in the United Kingdom.
Advising the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the refinancing of the second phase of the Istrian toll motorway and the financing of the construction, operation and maintenance of the Istrian toll motorway.
Advising the Government of the Republic of Croatia on the refinancing of the first phase of the Istrian toll motorway and the financing of the construction, operation and maintenance of the Istrian toll motorway. This was the first project bond deal in Eastern Europe (European Road Deal of the Year 2003).
Advising the Government of the Republic of Croatia in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Rijeka-Zagreb Motorway project.
Advising the Government of the Republic of Croatia in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Zagreb-Macelj Motorway project.
Advising the Government of the Republic of Hungary in connection with the restructuring of the financing and operating agreement of the M5 Motorway project.
Advising the Government of the Slovak Republic in respect of the Euro 3.5 billion D1 Motorway Project for the development and financing of its motorway network.
Advising the Government of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia & Herzegovina in respect of the development and financing of its Euro 3 billion Motorway Programme.
Advising the Guidry & Associates in respect of the development of the US$1.5 Billion Benghazi to Torbruk Motorway Project.
Advising IBJ in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the M1/A1 Motorway project.
Advising a Sponsor in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the A1 Motorway in Poland.

Advising Trakia Motorways d.d. (a company owned by Portugese companies Lena, MSF and Somag and Bulgarian Companies Technoexportstroy and Automagistrali) on the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Trakia Motorway project in Bulgaria

Ports

Advising DP World in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Rijeka Port Project, Croatia.
Advising DP World in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of two Bulgarian Port Projects.
Advising DP World in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of an Italian Port Project.
Advising DP World in connection with the development of the Port of Newcastle.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the US$1.5 billion design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Susah Secure Port, Libya.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the reconstruction, financing, operation and maintenance of the ports of Benghazi, Khoms, Dernah and Torbruk, Libya.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a Sudan Port.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of two Liberian Ports.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new Guyana Port for Exxon.

Railways

Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a US$1 billion Egypt to Libya rail project.
Advising Guidry & Associates on the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new Liberia rail project.
Advising HSBC in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Docklands Light Rail.
Advising UBS in connection with the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Infrastructure (Accommodation)

Advising Excalibur Healthcare in respect of the development and financing of the first PPP hospital in China
Advising the Czech Republic in respect of the development and financing of the first PPP hospital project in the Czech Republic.
Advising Goldman Sachs in respect of the Project Prime, the DSS estate financing.
Advising Premier Prison Custodial Services in respect of the financing, development and management of:

HMP Moreton Lane Prison
HMP Medomsley Prison
HMP Lowdham Grange Prison
HMP Pucklechurch Prison
HMP Kilmarnock Prison
Advising Premier Prison Custodial Services in respect of the operation and management of Premier Prisons’ electronic tagging systems.
Advising the Royal Bank of Scotland in respect of the development and financing of the DSS Newcastle Estate Accommodation Project.
Advising Union Bank of Switzerland in respect of the development and financing of HM Treasury, Government Offices, Great George Street, London (PFI Deal of the Year 2000). This was the first transaction closed utilizing the standard taskforce guidance.
Advising WestLB in respect of the development and financing of the West Middlesex NHS Hospital Project.

Infrastructure (Defence)

Advising British Aerospace plc in respect of the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the Hawk Simulator MOD PFI project.
Advising Royal Bank of Scotland in respect of the operation, maintenance and financing of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment MOD PFI project – a facility run by Serco, Lockheed Martin and British Nuclear Fuels.
Advising Royal Bank of Scotland in respect of the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and financing of the Apache Attack Helicopters Simulator MOD PFI project.
Advising Royal Bank of Scotland in respect of the design, construction, financing operation and maintenance of the Joint Services Staff College MOD PFI project.
Advising Royal Bank of Scotland in respect of the design, construction, financing operation and maintenance of the MOD Main Building PFI project.
Advising Societe Generale, Bank of Nova Scotia and Deutsche Bank in respect of the operation, maintenance and initial financing of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment MOD PFI project – a facility run by Serco, Lockheed Martin and British Nuclear Fuels.

Power and Renewables

Advising BG plc in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Santa Rita Power Project in the Philippines (including the negotiation of shared facilities arrangements with the San Lorenzo Power Project).
Advising British Energy Plc in respect of the financing of its acquisition of nuclear power plants in Canada.

Advising Chonburi Co-Gen in respect of an “inside the fence” project financing of a power plant servicing Nakornthai Strip Mill
Advising Citibank N.A., Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in respect of the financing and development of the Patnow II Power Station in Poland.
Advising the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Crédit Agricole) and ING Bank N.V. (ING) in relation to the US$270 million financing of a 200 megawatt coal-fired power project in Cebu, Philippines. The project is being developed by the Kepco SPC Power Corp. (KSPC), a joint venture between Korea Electric Power Corp. and SPC Power Corp., and is valued at US$451 million.
Advising Guidry & Associates in respect of the development of a 25MW “inside the fence” power project and gas generating facility with 8 Rivers in Libya.

Advising Henderson Corporation in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Sichuan Jialing Power Project in Sichuan Province, China
Advising Henderson Corporation in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Chengdu Thermal Power Project, China
Advising Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd in respect of the development, financing and refinancing of the 5 hydro power stations in Croatia with a total projected capacity of 3,500 MW
Advising Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd in respect of the development, financing and refinancing of the 250 MW of Wind Power Projects in Croatia
Advising Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd in respect of the development, financing and refinancing of the Jertovec Power Station in Croatia
Advising Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd and the Croatian Transmission System Operator in respect of the development and financing of a transmission and interconnection project between Croatia and Italy
Advising InterGen, a leading global power generation company, on UK matters relating to raising US$3.4 billion in debt and revolving credit facilities to refinance its debt at the parent company level and repay project level debt associated with certain of InterGen’s power plants in the United Kingdom and Mexico.
Advising International Clean Energy in respect of the development of 30 waste-to-energy renewable power projects in the Philippines.

Advising NRG and Genting Sanyen Sdn Bhd in connection with their bid for the acquisition development, financing, reconstruction and operation of the Kapar Power Project.
Advising PSE S.A. (Polish Grid Company) in connection with the restructuring of the Polish electricity market including the privatisation of various transmission assets and the restructuring from committed power purchase arrangements to a market price approach.
Advised PT Cirebon Electric Power (a consortium of Marubeni Corporation, Korea Midland Power Company, Samtan Co., Ltd. and PT Indika Energy TBK) in the development and financing of a 660 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia.
Advising Randgold in connection with derivatives issues in connection with commodity trades.
Advising Scott Power in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of a barge mounted power station in Bangladesh.
Advising Standard Bank of South Africa in respect of various financings of Eskom (with aggregate facilities in excess of US$2 billion).
Advising Saras SpA in respect of the project financing of a Power Project in Sardinia, Italy.
Advising Tenaga Nascional Sdn Bhd in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Baku Power Project, Malaysia.
Advising TCW Group on the investment in the Breeze III Wind Projects in France and Germany.
Advising TCW Group on the investment in the Breeze IV Wind Projects in France and Germany.
Advising a leading US developer in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of a barge mounted power station in Bangladesh.
Advising a leading US developer in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Dabhol Project, a 695 MW power plant with associated port and fuel facilities near the existing port of Dabhol, India.
Advising a leading US developer in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Kannur Power Project in Kerala, India
Advising a leading US developer in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of “inside the fence” power projects serving Pulp and Paper Mills in Indonesia.
Advising a leading US developer in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of a hydro-electric project in Laos and Thailand
Advising a leading US developer in connection with its negotiations with NAPACOR in connection with the acquisition of barge mounted power plants in the Philippines.

Oil and Gas

Advising Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the third train of the Qatargas LNG & Condensate Project
Advising BP Plc in connection with the structuring and operational merger with Mobil Oil.
Advising ENI in connection with the acquisition of oil producing assets and an oil block in the Congo from Total.
Advising European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in respect of the financing of Geoilbent Ltd’s Russian gas exploration and transmission activities.
Advising Odebrecht in connection with the development, financing, construction and operation of the Bijupira-Salema Oil and Gas Project.
Advising Northern Petroleum in a project to finance the development of three gas to power projects and three oil production projects.
Advising PGNiG (Polish Oil and Gas) in respect of the refinancing and restructuring of its Polish operations.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. in respect of the acquisition of the Euro 175 million Okoli Gas Storage facility.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. and Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd in respect of the development of the Adria LNG Project, Croatia.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. and Hrvatska Elektropriveda dd in respect of the development of the Ploce LNG Project, Croatia.
Advising Trafigura and Cepsa on a Nigerian Oil Refinery renewal project.
Advising TCW Group on the investment in the 4Gas LNG Projects in Netherlands and in Asia;
Advising TXU Europe Group Plc in respect of the sale of various of its North Sea assets to Consort Resources Limited.

Oil and Gas Pipelines

Advising the Bulgarian shareholders in connection with all aspects, including negotiating intergovernmental agreements and the shareholders agreement, of the $1.5 billion Burgas Alexandroupolis crude oil pipeline project being developed jointly by Bulgarian, Russian and Greek participants to transport crude oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis.
Advising Bulgargaz Holding in connection with the $15 billion development of the Southstream gas pipeline project being developed to transport gas from Russia, across the Black Sea and Bulgaria into European gas markets. Bulgargaz Holding is the Bulgarian shareholder in the project, and the Russian shareholder is Gazprom.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. in respect of the development of a Hungarian/Croatian gas transmission and interchange project with FGSZ of Hungary.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. in respect of the development of the NETS pipeline projects with FGSZ of Hungary.
Advising Plinacro d.o.o. in respect of the Adria LNG Project Development and in respect of a natural gas pipeline project to connect the Croatian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Italian and Serbian gas distribution networks to the Adria LNG Project’
Advising PGNiG in respect of the corporate financing and restructuring of its gas transmission business.
Advising Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen S.A. in respect of the project financing of a polyolefin joint venture between it and Basell Europe Holdings B.V. (Project Finance Deal of the Year 2003).

Petrochemicals

Acted for Delta Oil in respect of Project Scotland its joint venture with Ineos (a subsidiary of Innovene) for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and financing of a US$ 10 billion petrochemicals (ethylene/polyethylene) project in Saudi Arabia. This included structuring of the project to enable flotation of equity interests in the project on the Saudi exchange.

This included structuring of the project to maximise the funds from the debt markets, commercial banks and Saudi lenders SIDF (Saudi Industrial Development Fund) and PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia). This included structuring of the project with multiple construction contracts and without one single turnkey EPC. This included structuring of the project to permit subsequent expansion and specifically to permit the sharing of facilities and security.

Advising JP Morgan Chase in respect of the development, financing, construction and operation by Borealis A/S and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of an ethylene/polyethylene plant in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Advising Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen S.A. in respect of the project financing of a polyolefin joint venture between it and Basell Europe Holdings B.V. (Project Finance Deal of the Year 2003)

Mining and Minerals

Advising AIG in respect of the restructuring of the Solomon Islands Gold Project;
Advising Dresdner Bank in respect of a corporate financing of AngloGold Limited’s South Africa gold mining operations;
Advising Dresdner Bank, Rothschilds and Barclays Bank in respect of the US$375 million Ashanti Gold and Anglogold Geita Gold Mine Project Financing, Tanzania (Project Finance Deal of the Year);
Advising Dresdner Bank, Rothschilds and Barclays Bank in respect of the US$250 million Bridge Financing Facility for Ashanti Gold;
Advising Normandy Mining in respect of the Kasese Cobalt Project in Uganda;
Advising Union Bank of Switzerland in respect of the merger between Billiton and QNI Limited;
Advising Union Bank of Switzerland in respect of the financing of Societe d’Exploitation des Mines d’Or de Sadiola SA’s Mali Gold Project;

Telecommunications

Advising Guidry & Associates with respect to its joint venture with Retelit SpA of Italy for the development of an undersea fibre optic cable project between Libya and Italy.
Advising Tele2 in respect of its entry into the Croatian market.
Advising the Croatian Government on the sale of Hrvatska Telecom.

Arbitrations

Advising Asia Harimau in respect of the resolution of its arbitral proceedings with Steward Healthcare (Confidential).
Advising Fox Marble in respect of the resolution of arbitral proceedings with the Republic of Kosovo.

Education

Bachelor of Business (Accountancy), Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia, 1992
Bachelor of Laws, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia, 1992
Master of Laws, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia, 1994
Master of Business Administration, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia,1996

Bar Admissions