Overview
Stephen has nearly 25 years of experience advising across the energy, natural resources and commodities sector on project finance and structured commodities financing transactions (including oil and gas, mining, power and renewables and other energy transition matters). He has expertise in multi-source project financings and other structured financing transactions involving Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and other international financial institutions.
Stephen established the firm’s Seoul office and was based in Korea 2013-2018, so he maintains a close connection with Linklaters’ Korean practice. As a French speaker and qualified Avocat à la Cour (Paris Bar), and having been based in our Paris office for 7 years (2018-2025) he is also central to our energy and infrastructure team working with French corporates and banks.
Stephen has been regularly ranked by Chambers and by Legal 500 as a leading Projects & Infrastructure practitioner and has taken a leading role on many of our most significant projects globally in the sector.
Work Highlights
His recent experience includes:
Commodities
- Kalundborg Refinery: advising Macquarie in relation to an inventory monetisation for Klesch relating to stocks held at the Kalundborg Refinery in Denmark and related storage terminals.
- Gravenchon Refinery: advising Citi on an inventory monetisation transaction relating to the Gravenchon Refinery in France, related to the sale by ExxonMobil of its French refining business to North Atlantic.
- Grangemouth and Lavera Refinery: advising the commodities trading desk of Morgan Stanley on trading optimisation and inventory financing arrangements for the Grangemouth and Lavera refineries owned by Ineos.
- Advising traders, miners and utilities on structured commodity (power, gas, uranium) trading arrangements.
Project and Export financing
- Grandpuits, France: advising the Sponsors on the financing of a sustainable biofuels project in France.
- Sizewell C Nuclear: advising the UK Government on the debt financing of the Sizewell C Nuclear plant in Suffolk, UK.
- Yunlin Offshore Wind: advising the Sponsors on the multi-source project financing of the 640MW Yunlin offshore wind farm project in Taiwan, as well as on a significant restructuring and recapitalisation transaction relating to the project.
- Amiral Petchems: advising the ECAs, commercial lenders and Islamic facility providers on the c.USD9bn multi-source ECA-backed greenfield project financing of the Amiral petrochemicals project in Saudi Arabia sponsored by Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies.
- ACC Gigafactory: advising the Sponsors and project company on the ACC gigafactory project in northern France, Germany and Italy, with multisource financing from a variety of ECAs, commercial banks and other financial institutions.
- Assiut Hydrocracking complex: advising SACE and the Egyptian and international lenders on a US$1.5bn combined project and sovereign financing relating to the new Assiut hydrocracking complex to be built in Egypt as an upgrade of an existing refinery.
Education and qualifications
Stephen studied law with French at the University of Nottingham and the Université de Nantes. He is a Solicitor of the senior courts of England & Wales and also qualified as a French Avocat à la Cour, registered with the Paris Bar.
He speaks English and French.
