Baker & McKenzie has lured a prominent project finance lawyer from competitor Norton Rose Fulbright to its office in New York.
Mark Tibberts, who joins Baker as a partner, specializes in the financing, development, purchase, and sale of infrastructure projects. His expertise encompasses trade finance, loans, private placements, M&A, and joint ventures, as well as contracts governing construction, operation, supply, and maintenance. Much of his work has a marked cross-border component. In recent months, Tibberts has advised the project company and lead sponsor in $480 million of expansion financing for a pipeline and storage facilities for transporting oil in Panama, and has represented the affiliate of a commercial bank in more than $100 million of trade financing for purchases by a Brazilian petrochemical company.
In a discussion with IFLR1000, Tibberts commented, “This business goes through valleys and peaks. I’ve been through a few of them. We’re coming out of a bit of a restructuring phase, and there’ve been bankruptcies. But now I see people building power plants, and gas-fired plants are moving past wind and solar, which are less active with some of the tax incentives going down.”
Tibberts described strong interest on the part of investors outside the U.S. in infrastructure projects, and said he expects to see increased activity in the area of gas-fired power plants. He attributed these trends to a combination of oil and gas power prices, and surging demand as the U.S. markets grow. There is a perception that the U.S. is a particularly attractive venue for infrastructure deals because of its stable economic condition and robust economic growth compared to Europe.
One particularly promising area is the regional transmission organization known as PJM Interconnection, which extends over many Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states.
“The U.S. has working markets. In a world where it can be difficult to get long-term contracts, if you’re going to take the plunge and build a plant, PJM is a good place to do it,” Tibberts noted.
Tibberts holds a J.D. and a B.A. from Ohio State University.