John Maxwell

John leads Linklaters’ Asia Energy and Infrastructure team. The Linklaters team is recognised by clients and directories as one of the leaders in the market, in particular for low-carbon / renewables project development, project financing and sector M&A.   

John advises project developers, export credit agencies (ECAs), lenders and financial sponsors / energy & infrastructure funds on the development and financing of, and acquisitions in, world-scale and or new-market projects across the full spectrum of renewable technologies including offshore / onshore wind, solar, batteries and hydrogen. His experience also includes wider energy sector as well as cross-border rail and large-scale infrastructure projects. 

John is recognised in Chambers (Band 1) and Legal 500 as a leader in his field, with clients and peers commenting that ‘he’s very commercial and brings senior-level advisory experience to a matter’ and that he ‘has an outstanding reputation for project finance’. 

Work highlights

John’s recent experience includes advising:

• Northland, Mitsui and Hai Long on the US$3.6 bn financing of the 1,022 MW Hai Long 2 & 3 offshore wind farm projects in Taiwan with financing from, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), UK Export Finance (UKEF), Credendo, Eksfin and EFA together with a mix of Taiwan and international commercial banks. This transaction was named “Asia Pacific Offshore Wind Deal of the Year” by PFI Awards 2023 (among others).
• JBIC, Bpifrance and the commercial lenders on the EUR 2.4bn financing of the 500 MW Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Treport S.A.S. (Le Treport) offshore wind project in France developed by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), Ocean Winds, and Sumitomo Corporation.  
• JBIC, Bpifrance and commercial lenders on the Euro 2.2 bn financing of the 500 MW Eoliennes en Mer Iles d'Yeu et de Noirmoutier S.A.S. (Noirmoutier) offshore wind project in France developed by CDC, Ocean Winds, Sumitomo Corporation and Vendée Energie for an offshore wind farm project.  
• Blackrock’s Climate Finance Partnership (CFP) on its investment in Chow Energy, its first renewable energy in investment in Thailand. CFP is a blended finance fund that invests in emerging market infrastructure.
• CDPQ on its first corporate PPA arrangements in Japan under the co-investment framework agreed with Shizen as part of CDPQ’s equity investment.
• Stonepeak on its bid for the GPI renewables platform in Japan.
• Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) and NEXI on the c.US$3bn 589 MW Changfang and Xidao offshore wind farm in Taiwan. This transaction was named “Project Finance Deal of the Year” by FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2020 (among others).
• The commercial banks on the project financing of the 1,400MW Hin Kong gas-fired independent power plant in Thailand. This transaction was named “APAC Power Deal of the Year” by PFI Awards 2022.
• Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and commercial banks on the project financing of the 2,500MW Gulf SRC and 2,500MW Gulf PD gas-fired IPPs in Thailand. The Gulf PD transaction was named “Asia Pacific Power Deal of the Year” by IJ Global Awards 2019 (among others).
• Marubeni on the ¥100bn offshore wind project in Akita, the first commercial scale offshore wind project in Japan. This transaction was named “Innovation Deal of the Year” by PFI Awards 2020.

• 2019 to date: Asia Head of Energy and Infrastructure 
• 2012 – 2020: Managing Partner, Tokyo
• 2010 – 2012: Partner, Projects Group, Linklaters, London
• 2004 – 2009: Partner, Projects Group, Linklaters, Hong Kong
• 1996 – 2004: Associate, Linklaters, London
• 1994 – 1996: Trainee Solicitor, Linklaters

John has also experience advising

• the Japanese-led consortium on its bid for the Equis Asia-Pacific renewables portfolio
• the sponsors on the development and c.$1bn ECA financing of an LNG receiving terminal in Indonesia
• Sonnedix, and commercial banks, on several solar project financings including the Oita, Sano and Nagi PV projects in Japan
• Shortlisted international bidders for each of the Fukuoka and Hokkaido airport privatisations
• JBIC, NEXI, K-SURE and commercial banks on the proposed c.US$1bn financing of the Morupule B Units 5-6 IPP in Botswana
• the project sponsors (including Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corporation) on the US$20bn Sakhalin II LNG project