Overview
Samuel advises international investors, energy majors and construction and concession companies on development, financing and M&A of leading energy and infrastructure projects. He has built up a well-rounded practice over the past 14 years, covering most asset classes and products in the energy and infrastructure space.
Earlier in his career, Samuel carried out a secondment within the derivatives team at Natixis, which provided him with a comprehensive understanding of complex financial instruments.
Samuel is ranked as a “Rising Star” in the Legal500 and as an “Up and Coming” lawyer in Chambers.
Work highlights
Samuel has advised on many market-leading deals. These include advising:
- Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and TotalEnergies, on the €4.4bn non-recourse financing of its EV battery gigafactories located in France, Germany and Italy, including on the construction, raw material supply and offtake contracts, financing structures and options and the pathfinder work with ECAs and commercial banks
- the lenders to EQT on the financing of the acquisition of the Saur group
- Helexia, a leading energy transition and energy-efficiency services provider across Europe, on all aspects of the contract structuring, tax structuring and financing of a geographically and technologically diverse portfolio of 600 solar PV and energy efficiency projects located in France, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Romania
- Lecta on the financing of the construction of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) boiler on its Condat paper mill in France
- the commercial banks and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on all aspects of the financing and development of six offshore wind farms located in France, including Dieppe Le Tréport, Iles d'Yeu et de Noirmoutier, Saint-Nazaire (the first offshore wind farm to reach financial close in France), Fécamp, Courseulles-sur-mer and Provence Grand Large (the first time commercial lenders had taken limited recourse construction risk on a floating offshore wind asset)
- Bpifrance on its structuring and contractualisation of its ground-breaking Garantie Electricité Renouvelable (GER) product, a new tool designed to accelerate the development of private offtake schemes (Corporate PPAs) for renewable energy projects in France
Education and qualifications
Samuel studied law at Université Laval (Québec), and holds a master’s in international finance law from King’s College London.
He speaks French and English.
