Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance hires Toby Parkinson to join its award-winning infrastructure team

International law firm Clifford Chance has appointed Toby Parkinson as a partner in the firm's multi-award-winning European Infrastructure Group, based in London.

Toby began his career at Clifford Chance's London office in 2006, and worked in the firm's Infrastructure and Private Equity practice for ten years, where he specialised in infrastructure transactions and cross-border M&A. During this time, he also spent three years in the firm's Tokyo office, advising on M&A transactions in the infrastructure and energy sectors.

In 2016, Toby joined OMERS Infrastructure in London as Director, Legal where he provides legal advice and support on new investment opportunities, the management of infrastructure assets across Europe, and third-party capital-raise efforts.

Commenting on the appointment, Michael Bates, UK Regional Managing Partner at Clifford Chance said: "Over the years, the infrastructure sector has matured and become highly specialised, making deep and focused expertise essential to success. Toby's in-depth knowledge across infrastructure assets and his experience at a leading international infrastructure investor will add substantial value to our European Infrastructure Group. We are delighted to welcome Toby back to the firm, and we look forward to continuing our success together."

Guy Norman, Global Head of Corporate, added: "Our leading global Corporate practice regularly advises clients on some of the most complex, high-profile mandates thanks to our deep sector expertise and infrastructure is an important example. Toby's strong all-round experience in transactions, fund raising, co-investments and syndications, across an array of infrastructure assets, adds tremendous value to our global practice and we are delighted to welcome him back to the team."

Toby Parkinson said: "Having gained some invaluable experience in a leading global direct investor and asset manager, I am very pleased to return to Clifford Chance's esteemed European Infrastructure Group. I look forward to applying my experience and skills at the firm, and further developing the firm's infrastructure capabilities with some of the best legal professionals in Europe."

Clifford Chance's global, multi-disciplinary infrastructure team is composed of lawyers with specific geographical experience, industry knowledge and legal skills. Over the years, the team has acted on some of the most critical and complex infrastructure mandates and projects in Europe and in the world. Some of the more recent European infrastructure mandates include:

• Infracapital on the acquisition of a 50% interest in SSE Telecommunications Limited.
  
• Iberdrola (the Spanish utility) on the sale of Scottish Power’s portfolio of pumped storage, hydro and gas-fired power generation assets to UK-listed Drax Group plc for £702 million.
  
• Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board on the sale of their 50% stake in InterGen, a global power generation and development company with presence in the UK and Australia, by way of controlled auction process.
  
• A consortium comprising funds advised by Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management on its proposed purchase of a 33.33% stake in Cross London Trains Holdco 2 Limited (XLT) from 3i Infrastructure Plc.
  
• Global Infrastructure Partners on the acquisition from Ørsted of a 50% interest in the Hornsea offshore wind project, for approximately £4.46 billion.
  
• PFA and PKA, two of Denmark’s leading pension funds, on their acquisition of a joint 50% interest in the Walney Extension offshore wind project, for approximately £2 billion.
  
  

Clifford Chance has received multiple infrastructure industry awards in recent years, including being named European Law Firm of The Year for eight consecutive years and Global Law Firm of the Year in 2018 by Infrastructure Investor. In addition, four infrastructure deals Clifford Chance acted on in 2018, namely Hornsea 1, Nachtigal, Borssele III/IV and Moray East, were named deals of the year by Project Financial International.