Chris Staples | Lawyers

Admissions

UK (England & Wales)

Services

Mainstream Corporate

Sectors

Energy and Utilities
Banks
Real Estate
Energy Tech

“I have a particular interest in energy, industrial, natural resources and all forms of commodities-related transactions. I combine my scientific background and legal skills as a corporate lawyer to offer clients a clear understanding of the legal and commercial issues that these factors present, and offer them creative and practical solutions.”

Overview

Chris Staples is a corporate partner, a sector leader for Energy & Utilities, and co-heads the firm’s Global Commodities group. Chris advises major corporates, banks, funds and governments on a broad range of transactions, including joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and commercial agreements. He is particularly recognised for his expertise in climate change and renewable energy, and the implications of these for clients.

Experience

Advised Jingye Iron & Steel on the purchase of the assets of British Steel from its liquidators including blast furnaces, primary production, port facilities and rolling mills in the UK’s largest industrial insolvency
Advised SSE and Equinor in relation to their successful purchase from Energy Capital Partners of Triton Energy which holds the generation assets at Deeside, Indian Queens and Saltend
Advised the Special Administrators of Bulb on the hive down of its assets and subsequent sale to Octopus Energy
Advised LyondellBasell on the disposal of certain olefins & polyolefins assets and associated business in Europe
Advised SSE and Equinor on the sale of 20% of Dogger Bank, the world’s largest off-shore windfarm, to ENI
Advised ExxonMobil in relation to the sale of its northern and central North Sea interests to private equity house NEO Energy
Advised a consortium of banks led by JP Morgan and Standard Chartered in relation to the restructuring of positions held by them on the LME on behalf of stainless steel producer Tsingshan Holdings Group following a short squeeze in the LME nickel market
Advised AIM-listed hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power in relation to a £250m new equity raise by way of accelerated book build
Advised Mercuria in relation to the delisting of Argentinian Shale Gas producer Phoenix Global Resources
Advised SSE in relation to the sale of 51% of its Seagreen offshore windfarm to Total Energies
Advised private equity fund ARA Partners in relation to its strategic equity investment into CF Partners
Advised Equinor New Energy in relation to its investment into battery storage business Noriker Power
Advised Base Carbon in relation to an investment into the deployment of cookstoves in Vietnam by way of a prepayment agreement alongside Citibank Global Markets

Beyond the Office

Chris was recently appointed to the working group under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) for Market Transparency, Standardization and Scalability, and has previously served on the Investment Structuring and Contracts High Level Consultative Group for John Kerry’s Energy Transition Accelerator.

Chris works on a pro bono basis for the Malaria Consortium, a non-profit organisation that specialises in the prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases. In this capacity, Chris advises on all legal issues, from day to day questions on commercial contracts and disputes, to more complex strategic issues.

Recognition

Chris is ranked by Chambers, where clients have described him as “a very commercial, hard-working and knowledgeable lawyer who delivers to an exceptionally high level in tight timeframes” with a “solutions-oriented approach.”

Education, Qualifications and Languages

Chris studied natural sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University and law at Nottingham Law School.

Overview

Experience

Advised Jingye Iron & Steel on the purchase of the assets of British Steel from its liquidators including blast furnaces, primary production, port facilities and rolling mills in the UK’s largest industrial insolvency

Advised SSE and Equinor in relation to their successful purchase from Energy Capital Partners of Triton Energy which holds the generation assets at Deeside, Indian Queens and Saltend

Advised the Special Administrators of Bulb on the hive down of its assets and subsequent sale to Octopus Energy

Advised LyondellBasell on the disposal of certain olefins & polyolefins assets and associated business in Europe

Advised SSE and Equinor on the sale of 20% of Dogger Bank, the world’s largest off-shore windfarm, to ENI

Advised ExxonMobil in relation to the sale of its northern and central North Sea interests to private equity house NEO Energy

Advised a consortium of banks led by JP Morgan and Standard Chartered in relation to the restructuring of positions held by them on the LME on behalf of stainless steel producer Tsingshan Holdings Group following a short squeeze in the LME nickel market

Advised AIM-listed hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power in relation to a £250m new equity raise by way of accelerated book build

Advised Mercuria in relation to the delisting of Argentinian Shale Gas producer Phoenix Global Resources

Advised SSE in relation to the sale of 51% of its Seagreen offshore windfarm to Total Energies

Advised private equity fund ARA Partners in relation to its strategic equity investment into CF Partners

Advised Equinor New Energy in relation to its investment into battery storage business Noriker Power

Advised Base Carbon in relation to an investment into the deployment of cookstoves in Vietnam by way of a prepayment agreement alongside Citibank Global Markets

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Overview

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Beyond the Office

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Education, Qualifications and Languages

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Overview

Experience

Beyond the Office