Rob Harker joins DLA Piper

DLA Piper has appointed project finance lawyer, Rob Harker, as a partner in its Middle East Finance and Projects practice, based in Dubai. Rob joins the firm from Bracewell, where he was a partner since 2014.

Harker focuses on large-scale power (including renewables), infrastructure, petrochemical and refinery projects in the Middle East and North Africa, most notably in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Oman. Advising both sponsors and financial institutions, Rob brings extensive experience advising on large-scale multi-source financings involving international and domestic banks, export credit agencies and Islamic finance institutions.

Harker has acted on more than 20 independent power and water projects in the Middle East and North Africa and has been involved in some of the largest and most innovative utility-scale power projects to be undertaken in the region to date. This includes recently advising Alcazar Energy Partners in connection with its project financing of four 50 megawatt solar projects in Egypt as part of Round 2 of Egypt’s Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff Programme (Egypt FiT), a deal that was named 2017 Global MLA Deal of the Year by Project Finance International.

Commenting on the appointment, DLA Piper’s head of finance and projects in the Middle East, Trevor Butcher, said, “We are delighted that Rob has joined us. His appointment bolsters our project finance capability in the Middle East and better enables us to support clients seeking to take advantage of the significant opportunities offered by the region’s growing demand for power and water, particularly in the area of renewables where we are seeing increasing appetite.”

Regional Managing Partner, Peter Somekh, added: “Rob’s track record and client list speaks for itself.  His appointment demonstrates our commitment to providing our clients with best-in-class expertise in the region’s fastest growing sectors, and we look forward to working with Rob.”

Commenting on his appointment, Rob Harker said: “I am delighted to join the DLA Piper team. It is a law firm with significant momentum and growth. Its clear investment in the Middle East and impressive global platform is a real draw for me and something that I look forward to contributing to.”