Elena Rubinov

Elena Rubinov is Partner in Linklaters’ Corporate M&A team in New York.

She advises clients on mergers, acquisitions and private equity transactions across a variety of sectors, with a special focus on transactions in the energy, renewables and infrastructure sectors.

She advises public and private companies, including private equity and infrastructure funds and other investors, on corporate and business combination transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, co-investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, restructurings, and bankruptcy sales.

She also advises clients on debt and corporate restructurings in connection with equity recapitalizations, rights offerings, and 363 sales and acquisitions.

Work highlights

Elena’s recent deal highlights include: 

• Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec: advising on:
  - the acquisition of a 30% indirect equity interest in AES Ohio, for approximately US$546m.isse de Dépôt et 
  - a US$1.5bn multifaceted transaction in which an investment vehicle composed of CDPQ, Invenergy, and funds managed by private equity firm Blackstone Infrastructure Partners acquired from American Electric Power a 1,365-megawatt renewables portfolio comprised of 14 projects representing 1,200 MW of wind and 165 MW of solar in 11 states.

  - the negotiation of joint venture arrangements with DigitalBridge in connection with the latter’s preferred equity investment in Vertical Bridge to fund Vertical Bridge’s US$3.3bn transaction with Verizon to lease, operate and manage 6,339 wireless communications towers across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. from Verizon.
  - the acquisition through a joint venture with GE Energy Financial Services of Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, a 5,800 mile U.S. natural gas pipeline, from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure.
  - the acquisition by FiBrasil, a neutral wholesale fiber network operator in Brazil, structured as a joint venture between CDPQ, Telefônica Brasil, and Telefónica Infra, of fiber company Fiberty 1.

• ENGIE: advising on the acquisition of Broad Reach Power LLC, a company specialized in battery storage, from private equity funds EnCap Energy Transition and Apollo Infrastructure, for a total equity value in excess of US$1bn. The transaction involved 350 MW of grid-scale operating assets as well as 880 MW under construction and 1.7 GW of advanced stage development projects and a significant pipeline of early stage projects.
• Engie Brasil Energia: advising on: the acquisition of five operating photovoltaic power stations in Brazil from Atlas Renewable Energy, a company owned by investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The deal for the solar farms totalled an installed capacity of 545 megawatts (MWac) and was valued at about 3.24bn reais (US$646m), including Atlas' net debt of 971m reais.
• QIC: advising on: the US$850m sale of CampusParc Management Inc. and OSU Car Parking Trust, which indirectly own CampusParc LP, the concessionaire for the parking system at the Ohio State University. CampusParc Management Inc. and OSU Car Parking Trust was sold to Ardian.

• Global Atlantic Financial Group: an affiliate of KKR & Co., Inc.: advising on:
  - the sale of 100% of the cash equity interests in a 1.171 MW operating solar portfolio, through its affiliates, to Onward Energy, Inc., a U.S.-based energy company. The solar portfolio includes a total of 11 projects located across eight different U.S. states.
  - the sale of its membership interests in Origis Energy USA, Inc., a major vertically integrated renewable energy platform in the United States, to private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners SA.
  - the sale of U.S. solar and storage developer Clenera and development projects developed by a joint venture between Clenera and KKR known as Parasol Renewable Energy LLC to Enlight Renewable Energy LTD.

• Duke Energy: advising on the sale of its commercial distributed generation business to an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC, a leading middle market infrastructure investor, for an enterprise value of US$364m, inclusive of non-controlling tax equity interests.
• Brookfield Infrastructure: advising on the US$4.1bn sale of its wholly owned North America district energy business, Enwave, through two separate transactions which were entered into simultaneously. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and IFM Investors acquired 100% of Enwave's Canadian business and QIC Limited and Ullico Inc. acquired 100% of Enwave's U.S. business.
• DIF Capital Partners: advising the private equity firm on the acquisition of a majority interest in and providing growth capital to Joink, LLC, a telecommunications infrastructure company that currently provides enterprise fiber, residential fiber, and fixed wireless services in Western Indiana and Eastern Illinois.
• ReGenerate Energy Holdings, LLC: advising the joint venture formed between private equity firm Ember Infrastructure Partners and ReEnergy Biomass Operations LLC on the acquisition of Albany Green Energy, LLC, a 50MW biomass heat-and-power facility located in Albany, Georgia, from Constellation 2 Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Exelon Generation Company LLC.
• Argo Infrastructure Partners: advising on:
  - the US$150m acquisition of Corning Natural Gas Holding Corporation, a provider of natural gas and electric service to customers in New York and Pennsylvania.
  - the approximately US$514m acquisition, by merger, of Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation's MIC Hawaii businesses, which comprise a combined regulated gas utility and unregulated distributor of propane and several smaller businesses, including controlling interests in two solar facilities.
• Siemens Financial Services, Inc.: advising on the sale of its preferred equity interest in Hummel Power Station, a 1,124 MW natural gas-fired CCGT facility located in northern Pennsylvania, to an affiliate of a fund managed by LS Power Equity Advisors, LLC, and related transactions involving the restructuring of the ownership of Hummel Power Station.
• An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management: advising in a strategic investment with Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP to form a joint venture to invest in core telecommunication, renewable power and other infrastructure assets.
• Great Plains Energy: advising on its proposed cash-stock acquisition of, and its revised stock-for-stock merger of equals transaction with, Westar Energy, Inc., creating Evergy Inc., a company with a combined equity value of US$15bn.

• Global Infrastructure Partners: advising on a joint venture with Hess Corporation through the acquisition of a 50% interest in Hess Infrastructure Partners, the owner of Hess' midstream crude oil and natural gas infrastructure assets in the Bakken Shale for the purchase price of US$2.675bn

*includes experience prior to joining Linklaters

Elena is ranked Band 2 in the Energy: Electricity (Transactional) category by both Chambers USA and Chambers Global, Next Generation Partner for Energy Transactions: Electric Power by Legal 500 US, Rising Star Partner for M&A by IFLR1000 Financial & Corporate Guide and Rising Star for New York Metro by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters).

She is also an Advisory Board Member of Kupona Foundation – a U.S. fundraising and awareness raising arm of Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania.

Elena holds a bachelor’s in business administration and JD from Hofstra University where she graduated magna cum laude.

She is fluent in Russian.