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Pablo Echenique

Pablo Echenique LL.M.

he/himPartner
Corporate/M&A
About

Pablo is a partner in the Corporate M&A department of DLA Piper Spain. He has more than 20 years of professional experience and has been involved in numerous corporate and financial transactions, many of them cross border, mainly in the energy, infrastructure and construction sectors in Europe, Latin America, the United States, China, South Africa, Israel, India and the Middle East.

Pablo focuses mainly (but not only) on energy transactions. He leads the energy and infrastructure practice in Spain and is an active member of DLA Piper's global Energy and Natural Resources group.

He represents energy companies (IPPs), infrastructure funds and fund managers, utilities and all types of lenders in the purchase, sale, development, construction and financing of energy projects, portfolios and companies, including renewable generation projects (commercial-scale, distributed solar and residential, onshore and offshore wind, biomass, self-consumption schemes and hydroelectric), energy storage facilities, transmission systems, hydrogen production facilities and other energy-based transactions.

He has a deep knowledge of the renewable energy business, following more than 9 years as general counsel in leading energy companies (where he led very significant transactions, including a USD 1.8 billion bet-the-company deal with EIG, a private equity firm in the energy sector).

Pablo is also actively involved in M&A and financing transactions related to various concession-based assets.

In addition, he is a professor of Business Law at IE University and has taken part in ‘Tailor-made Business Programmes’ at Georgetown University (Washington DC). He is also an active member in Spain of the Aspen Institute, an American leadership organisation.

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising an investment fund manager in a joint venture with an IPP for the development, construction and operation of a portfolio of 9 renewable plants in Spain, Sweden and Portugal.
  • Advising a company owned by the French Republic in a joint venture with an IPP for the development, construction and operation of projects in Central America.
  • Advising an Indian IPP on an investment to develop green hydrogen projects.
  • Ongoing advice to the energy efficiency division of a leading energy fund on the design and implementation of a triangular scheme to finance self-consumption projects with and without surpluses, and other energy efficiency projects (in various sectors, such as real estate, ports, etc.) throughout Spain.
  • Advising a leading energy fund on the acquisition of a stake in a Spanish group in the energy efficiency and consumption sector.
  • Advising a European fund manager specialising in sustainable transition on the design of a micro-pooling and financing scheme for self-consumption projects in Spain.
  • Advising a European IPP (independent power producer) company on the sale and purchase of a portfolio of self-consumption projects.
  • Advising a Luxembourg-based investment and asset management company on the acquisition of portfolios of more than 13 photovoltaic plants in Spain.
  • Advising a Spanish collective investment scheme management company on the acquisition/deployment of capital of several PV plants in Spain.
  • Advising a leading solar energy development platform on the restructuring of the investment in a 200 MW PV plant in the Dominican Republic.
  • Advising a Spanish private equity firm focused on renewable energy investments in a joint venture for the development of common interconnection infrastructures for renewable projects in Spain.
  • Advising a Luxembourg-based investment and asset management company in connection with a joint venture and shareholder agreement with a Swedish IPP for the development of 300 MW of renewable energy across Spain.
  • Advising a private group of investors on the acquisition of an anti-pollution filter/CO2 emission filter business in Spain.
  • Advising a family-owned multidisciplinary engineering and industrial manufacturing company on the Spanish leg of the acquisition of a British luxury car manufacturer.
  • Advising a Spanish family office on the acquisition of an anti-pollution filter business and a portfolio of photovoltaic plants in Spain.
  • Advising a leading manufacturer of electrical construction products on the acquisition, development and financing of almost 1 GB of wind energy in Spain, awarded in a public auction.
  • Advising an investment platform on the preparation of binding bids in five competitive bidding processes for the acquisition of toll roads in Mexico (USD 3 billion EV deal), France (EUR 400 million EV deal), Chile (USD 90 million EV deal), the United States (USD 700 million EV deal) and Spain (EUR 430 million EV deal).
  • Advising a construction materials trading company on the acquisition of a Spanish real estate company (Agofer) by the Sando Group (EUR 220 million).
  • Advising a leading project and power plant operator on the Initial Public Offering (Nasdaq listing) of a newly created vehicle to be used as the main sponsor of Abengoa's projects worldwide. Approximately USD 800 million. Aborted one week before the F-1 filing with the SEC.
Languages
  • Spanish
  • English
  • French
Education
  • Universidad Autónoma de Madrid – Law Degree
  • IE Business School – Master's in law (LLM)
  • IE Business School – Programa Ejecutivo en Derecho de la Energía PSDE
  • Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles (IEB Universidad Complutense) – Graduate Programme in Financial Markets

AWARDS

He appeared as a ‘leading individual’ in the first list of corporate lawyers in the Iberian market published by The Legal 500. He is also a fellow of the Aspen Institute Spain, a leadership forum. Pablo is also a regular contributor to the press and specialised publications.

Publications

  • Pablo is also a regular contributor to the press and specialised publications.

Prior Experience

He began his professional career at a prestigious Spanish Law firm, where he worked for more than 7 years advising on mergers and acquisitions (of companies and assets), shareholder agreements/joint ventures, financing transactions, sale and lease backs and corporate restructurings, especially in the infrastructure, real estate and financial sectors.

Later, he worked for more than 7 years in General Secretary/Corporate Counsel at a multinational energy/environmental services conglomerate, during its phase of significant international expansion, where he had the opportunity to advise on numerous matters related to renewable energies (M&A, private placements, Corporate and Project Finance, etc).

After this stage, Pablo broadened his experience in renewable energies as General Counsel of an Energy Company, the Spanish subsidiary of a relevant Saudi industrial company.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Pablo was a Corporate/M&A partner for almost 4 years at a national renowned legal boutique.

Additional Information

  • Pablo is actively involved in academic activities. He is currently a professor of Business Law at IE University. He has also taken part in "customised business programmes" at Georgetown University (Washington DC).

Memberships

  • Madrid Bar Association

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