Mayer Brown Expands Project Finance Capabilities

London, 11 April 2016 — Mayer Brown announced today that it has expanded its project finance capabilities with the addition of Tom Eldridge as a partner in the Banking & Finance practice in London. Tom joins Mayer Brown from Dentons where he was the London project finance leader and global sector and practice co-leader for mining.

Tom is a market-leading project finance and infrastructure lawyer whose practice is particularly focused on the mining and metals, energy (power, renewables, oil and gas) and infrastructure sectors. He has extensive experience advising lenders, borrowers, sponsors and governments on a range of project and export finance transactions, both in the UK and other markets around the world, such as Africa — which is a large area of focus for Tom's practice.

At Mayer Brown, Tom will work closely with the firm's London and global project finance teams on both lender and developer-side European and African opportunities across a range of sectors, including mining, renewable, power, and infrastructure.

Ian Coles, who heads the firm's Mining and Africa groups and is co-leader of the global Project Finance practice, said: “Tom is a highly-experienced project finance lawyer whose practice will further strengthen our ability to provide our clients with top-level advice in areas such as mining, particularly within Africa. This is an exciting appointment as there are many synergies between Tom's practice and our global offering. I look forward to working closely with him to support the growth of infrastructure and other projects that we are seeing from our clients.”

Dominic Griffiths, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s global Banking & Finance practice, said: “We have a first-class project finance team and are committed to investing in talented lawyers who can complement our preeminent client offering in areas such as mining. Tom is a great fit for us as has he a wealth of international and technical experience in the project finance market and he is recognised as one of the top mining finance specialists. His arrival will add depth to our global platform and further our ability to navigate clients through complex deals.”

Commenting on his appointment, Tom said: “Mayer Brown has an excellent reputation for its work in the mining, energy and infrastructure sectors and it will provide a great platform for my practice, particularly in relation to our shared focus on Africa. The firm has a collaborative approach to cross-border transactions and I look forward to working with my colleagues across practices and offices to support clients on their projects and new opportunities.”

Mayer Brown advises on the full range of project finance services globally, including senior and subordinated lending, equity investments and leveraged lease transactions. The firm also has a cross-disciplinary team of lawyers who are pioneers in infrastructure project bond deals in Latin America, cross-border M&A and fundraising capabilities in the oil and gas sector and project financings in the mining sector.