DLA Piper

Award-winning advice on ambitious projects

Today’s complex infrastructure and PPP projects need more than legal knowhow. Our lawyers are recognized for their innovative thinking and strong commercial mindset. We’ve advised on high-profile projects around the world for over 30 years. We’ll help ensure your project is bankable and deliverable.

It’s increasingly hard to plan and deliver infrastructure projects that achieve economic, environmental and social goals. Our experienced lawyers help realize projects ranging from innovative start-up initiatives to complex largescale international deals, many of them groundbreaking.

Both sponsors and lenders turn to us for assistance with limited recourse financing transactions. We have broad experience in public-private partnership (PPP) transactions and thorough knowledge of the key market sectors, including power, transport, oil, gas, commodities, and water. And because our global team operates across all of these areas, we provide integrated, cross-border advice to help deliver projects in their entirety.

“Whether you’re in the public or private sector, an investor, contractor or financier, we understand what drives you and the dynamics between you and other parties.”

We’ll guide you through every legal aspect from procurement strategy, legislation, tax structuring, and contractual documentation to risk allocation, dispute resolution, and finance structuring. This includes secured structured financings, bond financing, and other solutions tailored for the current market.

We’ve acted on many closed PPP deals, and help with operational issues including the sale of infrastructure assets and refinancing.

Whether you’re in the public or private sector, an investor, contractor or financier, we understand what drives you and the dynamics between you and other parties. Because every project has its specific challenges, we take a proactive role in understanding each project’s economics and crafting innovative solutions to mitigate credit risk.

As an international group, our 200+ lawyers are based in major city locations in more than 40 countries. So we’re well positioned to help you with projects in both developed and emerging markets.

Video: Meet the team

Awards and recognition

Experience

Our experience includes advising:

On the development, construction and financing of the trans-Nigerian Ajaokuta-Kaduna- Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project.
Aegean Airlines on their satellite connectivity deal with Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom.
LEGO Group on its plans to invest over USD1 billion to build a factory in Chesterfield County, approximately 20 miles south of Richmond, Virginia — the first in the US. Construction will begin in the fall of 2022 and the factory will feature carbon-neutral designs. The site will minimize the use of non-renewable resources and energy consumption. An onsite solar park will generate renewable energy to match the factory's daily energy needs.
BASF on various projects including:
FM provider, Serco, on the Dumfries & Galloway Hospital NPD Project, which included funding from the European Investment Bank, with a project value of GBP271 million (the last to close in Scotland).
East West Rail on the development consent order for a new railway line between Bedford and Cambridge forming part of a new rail link between Cambridge and Oxford utilizing new and existing rail lines.
Finmeccanica in relation to their intended participation in the European Space Joint Venture with DASA, Matra Marconi and BAE Systems. Our advice included due diligence of rocket and satellite related commercial contracts.
For well-over a decade, we have advised the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on some of its most significant projects from resolving maritime boundary disputes with neighbors, large infrastructure and energy projects, finance and law reform. A particular highlight was advising Timor-Leste through a never-before-used United Nations conciliation process. Our engagement has involved more than ten secondments to the Government in various Ministries and agencies commencing in 2009 and also has included significant pro bono and capacity building support with lawyers from more than six countries having been actively involved at various stages.
Renewco Power, the Edinburgh-based renewable power business, on its US expansion through the acquisition of a 1.5GW pipeline of early-stage utility-scale solar projects and 500 MW of battery storage projects from Virginia-based developer Beaufort Rosemary.
HS2 on the planning and real estate elements of HS2 a new highspeed rail line between London and Birmingham including site assembly and scheme wide interfaces with statutory undertakers.
Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (TSX: INE) on its agreement to acquire Aela Generación S.A. and Aela Energía SpA, a 332 MW portfolio of three newly built operating wind assets in Chile, for a purchase price of USD686 million.
ITV on their satellite connectivity and related technology arrangements with Arqiva.
SG H2 Energy Global, LLC on the development and financing of a green hydrogen production facility to be located in Southern California. This includes the negotiation and signing of the recently concluded hydrogen offtake agreement with Iwatani Corporation and a public private partnership (PPP) agreement with the City of Lancaster, California.
Naval Group S.A. on a dispute with the Commonwealth of Australia arising from the termination of the multibillion-AUD Australian Future Submarine Program (AFSP) to make way for the AUKUS security alliance with the US and the UK.
Tayside Mental Health Developments NPD Project. We advised the John Laing/Laing O’Rourke consortium on the first NPD health project in Scotland.
The Spark Consortium on the AUD11.1 billion North East Link Primary Package PPP – the largest PPP in Australia.
Working with Iduna on a high-profile EV charging deal to fundraise up to GBP120 million to fund the client’s rollout of EV charging network.