Burges Salmon has been successful in the Advisory Firm of the Year category at the New Energy & Cleantech Awards 2015, which took place in London on Wednesday 29 April.
Advisory Firm of the Year was awarded to the professional advisory firm that has provided real depth of expertise in the sector and given invaluable service to its clients, along with the company that the judges deemed to have planned and executed the best acquisition, merger or fundraising during the past 12 months.
A representative from the organisers, Vitesse Media, said: 'The judges were impressed by the diversity of Burges Salmon's roles, from advising on the UK's largest biomass plant to the world's largest tidal energy project, as well as the firm's involvement in the high-profile West Coast Energy acquisition by GDF Suez.'
The 2015 New Energy & Cleantech Awards recognise those who play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the green energy and cleantech industries, celebrating the companies, entrepreneurs, investors and specialist advisers who are instrumental in the sector.
Over the last 15 years Burges Salmon has established itself as one of the UK’s leading law firms providing advice to the green energy and cleantech sector. The firm’s Renewables sector team has a breadth of experience across different technologies, providing advice to 'first of a kind' and key UK renewables infrastructure projects. The team has grown to over 60 specialist lawyers, advising on technologies such as onshore/offshore wind, wave, tidal, hydro, biomass, solar, fuel cells, waste to energy, tidal lagoons and geothermal energy. Many of the firm’s lawyers also sit on (have been elected to) influential industry working groups.
Particular highlights include acting on the world’s largest tidal energy project, Scotland’s largest ever renewables project, the UK’s largest planned biomass plant and, reflecting the expertise it offers, being appointed as an adviser to the UK regulator Ofgem and the Green Investment Bank. In 2014 alone, the firm’s Energy team completed:
- 53 M and A deals
- six PE/VC equity transactions
- 10 project financings
- two public offerings (both by way of secondary placing).
Burges Salmon Head of Energy Ross Fairley said: 'We are delighted to have won this award, which recognises the fantastic year that the team has had. 2014 was the team's most successful year to date. We thank all our clients for trusting us with their important projects and transactions and this endorsement as Advisory Firm of the Year reflects the fact that we have been lucky enough to be involved in some of the sector's most ground-breaking projects over the last 12 months.'
Burges Salmon has also once again been ranked as one of the top Legal Advisers in Clean Energy Pipeline’s Clean Energy Europe Finance Guide 2015. The firm has retained its first place ranking for its Venture Capital, Private Equity and M&A sector work by number of deals, at 59, which is 42 per cent ahead of the second place ranked firm in this table.