Bob is a partner in the banking and project finance group in the New York office. He heads the Project Practice in New York and has overall responsibility for our São Paulo office. He has worked for over 20 years—roughly equally for lenders and for borrowers—in financings, restructurings and infrastructure development, including a significant focus on the emerging markets (particularly Brazil and Latin America, Russia and the Middle East). Bob has done this both as a lawyer representing lenders and equity investors, and as the head of an independent power producer’s Latin American development group.
Representative Transactions (Lender Roles):
Deutsche Bank in a transaction with Petrobras involving a gas-fired power plant in Brazil.
BNPP as lead arranger in its refinancing of the TEG (a 260 MW (gross) pet coke-fired, 'self-generation' facility in Mexico) debt.
Calyon as lead arranger in its refinancing of the TEP (a 260 MW (gross) pet coke-fired, 'self-generation' facility in Mexico) debt.
BBVA, DEPFA BANK plc and Banco Santander Central Hispano in the US$350 million refinancing of acquisition debt for Icon Parking, a Macquarie affiliate and owner of parking garages owned in New York City.
GE and the other Noteholders in the taxable bond, limited recourse financing of a greenfield paper recycling facility in the State of Louisiana.
Representative Transactions (Sponsor Roles):
Porto do Pecém Geração de Energia S.A., a project company, and its sponsors (Energias do Brasil S.A. and MPX Energia S.A.), in the US$1.59 billion project financing of a 720 MW coal-fired thermal power plant next to the port of Pecém, in Fortaleza, State of Ceará, Brazil, with financing from IDB and BNDES as well as B Loan lenders.
AES Corporation in the development, construction and financing of a hydroelectric power plant in Changuinola, Panama.
AES and its affiliates in the ongoing development and financing of a 720 MW combined cycle power plant in the Caribbean.
The sponsors of a US$600 million upgrading of the El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, Colombia under a concession and to be financed by multilateral and commercial bank lenders.
Energias do Brasil S.A. and MPX Energia S.A. on the EPC contracts to build a 720MW coal-fired thermal power plant next to the port of Pecém, in Fortaleza, State of Ceará, and a 360 MW coal-fired thermal power plant next to the port of Itaqui, in São Luis, State of Maranhão, Brazil.
Campos Novos Energia S.A. as sponsors of an 880 MW hydroelectric power plant in Brazil in a US$75 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (this transaction was named 'Deal of the Year' in its category by Project Finance Magazine).
The project sponsors in connection with the development and financing of two pet coke-fired generation facilities in Mexico (520 MW) with a capital cost of US$700 million financed with the participation of COFACE, ECGD and the IDB (this transaction was named 'Deal of the Year' in its category by Project Finance Magazine).
GE Energy Financial Services in connection with its bid for a hydroelectric plant in Panama and on various other bids for water projects in the Middle East.
GE Ionics, Inc. and GE Infrastructure as the lead equity investor in the approximately US$280 million financing by OPIC of the development of a water desalination facility in Algeria.
Sociedad Concesionaria Vespucio Norte Express S.A., project company, and its sponsors (Hochtief Projektentwicklung GmbH and Actividades de Construcción y Servicios S.A. Dragados) with a US$424 million project bond, guaranteed by monoline insurer MBIA, to finance the construction of an electronically-tolled urban ring road in Santiago, Chile.
Camargo Correa and Andrade Gutierrez as sponsors in connection with the US$115 million financing by IFC of the Dutra toll road in São Paulo, Brazil.
The sponsors in relation to specific contractual matters for the Damietta port project in Egypt.
Grupo México in the structuring of its RFP for a 400 MW coal-fired self-generation facility.
Marubeni in its acquisition of the Miravalles geothermal power plant in Costa Rica.
Project sponsors on the 1000 MW Tamazunchale bid sponsored by CFE in Mexico.
TECO Power in the development of a 90 MW gas-fired power project in Guatemala (the emergency project using LM 6000's was initially financed on an all-equity basis and later refinanced through OPIC).
Bob speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, Russian and English.
M.B.A., Columbia University Graduate School of Business, 2000
J.D., Columbia University School of Law (Stone Scholar), 1985
A.B., cum laude, Princeton University, 1982