JOB DESCRIPTION

About Herbert Smith Freehills

As one of the world’s leading law firms, we advise many of the largest and most ambitious organisations across all major regions of the globe. With over 5,000 people, including 3,100 lawyers and over 2,000 business services professionals, operating from our global network of offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice.

We recognise that the success of our business and our clients relies on the skills, knowledge and ideas of all our people. Our environment is one in which high performance is expected, in return, we will provide you with rewards and opportunities tailored to your personal and professional goals.

The Opportunity

Key internal relationships:

Supervising lawyer, group partners and senior lawyers, associates/solicitors, trainees/graduate solicitors, secretarial staff, paralegals

Key external relationships:

Clients, other firms

Practice group/team:

The Infrastructure Finance team in London consists of 4 partners and a group of associates focused on the financing of both brownfield (M&A) and greenfield (project) financings. The team forms part of a broader Energy, Natural Resources & Infrastructure Finance group. The products involved include acquisition finance (including holdco/midco finance), project finance, some hybrid products and (to a lesser extent) fund level finance for infrastructure funds (capital call and NAV facilities). The Infrastructure Finance team works across the entire infrastructure sector including transport, energy transition (renewables, batteries EV charging etc), digital infrastructure, water and waste and healthcare.  The practice in Europe has a substantial presence in London, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Düsseldorf. Outside of Europe the practice operates in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and throughout Asia and Australia where we are the leading and largest firm in the market. We are highly ranked in all of the directories (eg Tier 1 in Legal 500 for Project, Energy & Natural Resources (Infrastructure and Power). We have acted on some of the most complex and ground-breaking infrastructure finance deals. Clients include infrastructure and energy funds, banks and debt funds, multilateral agencies, project sponsors and governments. Key clients include: Antin, GIC, QIC, DWS, EIP, GS Global Infra, Brookfield Debt, Santander and Lloyds 

Recent work includes:

Antin on the senior refinancing of its Spanish fibre to the home (FTTH) business, Lyntia Access
GIC on the holdco financing for its acquisition of 30% of CETIN, a leading telecommunications infrastructure provider operating across CEE
lenders on the refinancing of specialist care home business, Achieve Together (owned by InfraBridge)
Bharti on the finance aspects of its acquisition, together with the UK Government, of satellite communications company, OneWeb
GIC and Blackrock on the finance aspects of the acquisition of Kellas, the North Sea gas transmission business
a confidential infra fund on the financing for its acquisition bid for Parmaco, a prefabricated building company located in Finland
Brookfield Debt on the junior holdco financing of French independent fibre network, Altitude
lenders to Smart Meter Assets ("SMA") on the senior refinancing of the short dated facilities raised at the time of SMA's acquisition by Arcus and GLIL 
a syndicate of lenders, including UK Infrastructure Bank, on the development and financing of the proposed Neuconnect 1.4GW HVDC submarine interconnector cable, the first direct power link between Germany and Great Britain

Primary objectives:

Contribute to excellent client service and perform fee-earning work under supervision. Make an effective contribution to the firm’s work by aiming to meet and exceed target hours. Build on legal and commercial knowledge in chosen practice area. Begin cultivating relationships with current client contacts where possible and in some instances, be a direct point of contact.

Key responsibilities:

Advising a range of infrastructure funds as well as many global financial institutions on the acquisition financing of infrastructure assets Expected to be willing to be involved in some project finance transactions for both borrowers and lenders  Leading and negotiating transactions (with senior associate support on larger deals), assisting and supervising more junior associates and trainees Building relationships with clients, identifying and acting on opportunities Plan, prioritise and delegate work tasks as appropriate and update supervising partner/senior associate on progress. Build client relationships - provide excellent client service and prompt responses and progress updates to the client. Support the firm and others - build effective relationships with individuals and groups in and across offices; uphold the firm’s values; and assist with the preparation of legal precedents, legal articles, marketing documents and presentations. Comply with risk requirements, firm policies and all relevant professional responsibilities and legislation.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

Qualified/admitted legal practitioner in relevant jurisdiction. Ideally 3.5 - 4 years PQE with evidence of experience in infrastructure acquisition finance. Project finance experience also helpful. We would consider candidates a year or so less, or more, qualified.  Currently/trained at a magic circle, US, silver circle or top tier Aus/NZ firmStrong foundation legal skills, including drafting, writing, negotiation and project management.Technically strong, self-starter (ie able to run principal finance workstreams on large deals and smaller deals independently) who enjoys BD as well as transactional work Must be highly familiar with facility and commitment documentation, having drafted documentation from start to finish on LMA standard terms Familiar with law firm profitability and key drivers for financial efficiency. Basic understanding of the client sectors relevant to the chosen area of law.
 

Team

Finance

Working Pattern

Full time

Location

London

Contract type

Permanent Contract

Diversity & Inclusion

At Herbert Smith Freehills you will be part of a diverse, innovative culture where high performance, client focus and highly engaged people are our differentiator. People at our firm come from a range of backgrounds and bring a wide variety of experiences and perspectives to their work with us. We strive to ensure that our inclusive environment means you feel valued and able to perform at your best by being your authentic self at work. We know that our future success not only depends on being innovative and progressive in the changing legal market but, most importantly, on our people feeling highly engaged in meaningful work.

We understand that you have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to create a working environment based on mutual trust and respect, in which you can perform at your best whilst maintaining sustainable balance across your life.