Alejandro Espitia is a project development and finance associate in Clifford Chance's New York office, the practice where he began his career. He advises sponsors, developers, funds and lenders across US and international energy and digital infrastructure, working closely on the group's infrastructure origination.
Alejandro returns to the firm from HSBC, where he spent three years as Senior Legal Counsel on the Infrastructure Finance (Americas) team, the sole legal point of contact for the US and Mexico platforms, embedded in the legal and front-office execution of the bank's project and infrastructure financings. Before that he originated and structured transactions front-office as a Vice President at Crédit Agricole CIB. That arc — from Clifford Chance project finance lawyer, to the bank's credit seat, and back to outside counsel — gives him a financier's and an originator's lens on the deals he now advises on.
His recent work concentrates on the sectors driving the current infrastructure cycle: data center development and acquisition financings for hyperscale and colocation platforms, including the bespoke, hybrid structures they increasingly require; the power and behind-the-meter supply serving that data center load; utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage; U.S. LNG export capacity; and a range of structured financings, construction-to-term, warehouse and DevCo facilities, US private placements, and bond and letter-of-credit structures. He also handles selective Latin American and cross-border mandates.
- STACK Infrastructure — hyperscale data center campus: HSBC, as lender, on the c.US$18 billion financing of one of the largest data center developments on record (New Mexico), backed by Blue Owl-managed funds.*
- CyrusOne — data center platform warehouse: HSBC, as lender, on the US$8 billion warehouse facility for the KKR/GIP-owned hyperscale platform — among the largest data center financings to date.*
- Jupiter Power — battery energy storage: HSBC, as lender, on successive financings (c.US$294 million and c.US$399 million) for the BlackRock-owned BESS platform; IJGlobal BESS Deal of the Year.*
- AES Clean Energy — solar-plus-storage portfolio: HSBC, as lender, on the portfolio financing of utility-scale solar and battery storage assets developed by AES Clean Energy.*
- Rio Grande LNG (NextDecade) — Gulf Coast LNG build-out: HSBC, as lender, across the financing of the Rio Grande LNG facility, including the US$12.3 billion Phase 1 (the largest greenfield energy project financing in U.S. history; PFI Americas LNG Deal of the Year) and the subsequent Train 4 and Train 5 expansions.*
- Louisiana LNG (Stonepeak / Woodside): HSBC, as lender, in connection with Stonepeak's c.US$6 billion acquisition financing for a stake in the Woodside-led Louisiana LNG project.*
- Reden Solar — Chilean PMGD portfolio (US private placement): originated and executed, as VP, a c.US$140 million Section 4(a)(2) private placement financing a 180 MW portfolio of small-scale (PMGD) solar assets in Chile, featuring active asset-addition mechanics and ongoing portfolio compliance.*
- NYCFC stadium (Etihad Park): HSBC, as lender, on the US$425 million financing for the all-electric professional soccer stadium for New York City FC; IJGlobal Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year.*
- Brightline West — high-speed rail: HSBC, as lender, on the c.US$3.5 billion financing for the first true high-speed rail system in the United States.*
- Vantage Data Centers — platform financing: HSBC, as lender, on the US$5.75 billion financing for the DigitalBridge/Silver Lake-backed data center platform.*
*Experience prior to joining Clifford Chance
News and client work
Contact details
- Clifford Chance, New York
- +12128783319
- Email me
- Speaks English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
Career & qualifications
- University of Pennsylvania Law School (JD) 2015
- Joined Clifford Chance 2015
- Admitted as an Attorney-at-Law in New York 2016