Paul Hastings announced the significant expansion of its global energy and infrastructure practice with the addition of a premier European team and the opening of a new Abu Dhabi office as the firm’s regional hub serving clients across the UAE, Europe and Asia.
Joining from White & Case, Dinmukhamed (Din) Eshanov and George Kazakov will co-head the new Abu Dhabi office and lead an international team spanning Abu Dhabi, London, and Paris. This will strengthen the firm’s international energy and infrastructure capabilities and complement its existing U.S. practice.
The team will work closely with Energy and Infrastructure practice co-chairs Gregory Tan and Rob Freedman, who joined the firm in 2022 in New York, to accelerate the practice’s global growth, as well as with a wide range of other practices and geographies.
Din Eshanov, which is based in Abu Dhabi, advises on various project development and construction agreements, including engineering and procurement agreements; power purchase agreements; operation and maintenance agreements; build, own, operate and transfer agreements; and FIDIC-based agreements across a range of industries, including the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. And he also advises on corporate, finance and commercial transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and private equity.
George Kazakov – who will work out of the firm’s Europe and Abu Dhabi offices – focuses on private equity M&A and finance transactions in the infrastructure sector, advising funds and financial sponsors on domestic and cross-border acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, co-investments and restructurings.
KEY QUOTES:
“The addition of this strong, international team, alongside our elite U.S. infrastructure and energy group, expands our global reach in high-value transactional work, including finance, M&A, restructuring and large-scale infrastructure development. We currently represent a wide range of sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, banks and corporates across the globe that are highly synergistic with the team, and we look forward to gaining more market share of cross-border matters.”
– Firm Chair Frank Lopez
“It is exciting to be part of the team leading the buildup of the Abu Dhabi-based practice, which will serve as a hub for the regional clients and transactions, as well as a vital bridge with Europe, the U.S. and Asia for the firm’s clients. Helping expand the reach of European investors into the Middle East and facilitating investments from the region into Europe will be a cornerstone of the strategy.”
– Din Eshanov
“We are thrilled to join Paul Hastings as the firm builds its global energy and infrastructure practice. With Paul Hastings’ incredible global platform and deep existing energy and infra capabilities, we are well-positioned to support clients navigating complex transactions in the region and globally. We look forward to working with a world-class team to further strengthen our client relationships and drive the firm’s strategic growth internationally.”
– George Kazakov
