The independent panel of judges separated out the legal category into 3 sections – choosing Latham & Watkins to win IJInvestor Awards 2022 for Legal Adviser in the Americas.

As with all judging sessions, the IJ team is led by the independent panel of judges and this played out very much across the legal sector where they chose winners for the Americas – this award – and for EMEA as well as a Global winner.

The judges were won over by the Latham submission in which the firm laid out the central role it had played over the course of the judging period having advised on more than 62 oil and gas-related matters; acted on in excess of 49 conventional power matters; more than 33 renewable energy transactions; and more than 33 infrastructure-related matters.

The approximate aggregate value of these more than 175 transactions is $611 billion.

According to the submission: “Latham’s work across the Americas combines deep insight into the region’s legal, cultural, and commercial dynamics with the worldwide view of the firm’s global platform to advise clients on their most significant matters.

“Latham regularly advises on matters across all sectors of the industry, including digital infrastructure, oil and gas, power, renewables, social infrastructure, telecoms, and transportation in myriad countries, including the US, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Central America, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and region-wide.”

The judges were particularly impressed that Latham had been involved in many of the transactions that had been discussed at Judgment Day prior to looking at the company submissions.

Latham singled out an impressive spread of transactions including having advised Alder Fuels – a cleantech company pioneering first-of-its-kind technologies for producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – in its venture with United and Honeywell in a landmark deal to produce fuel that is a 100% drop-in replacement for petroleum jet fuel.

The law firm also acted for Antin Infrastructure Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in Origis Energy – one of the largest deals to have closed in this space in 2021.

It also worked with Blackstone Infrastructure Partners on its $1 billion equity investment in FirstEnergy, which will support its smart grid and clean energy initiatives.

Latham acted for Telefonica in its partnership with KKR to create Columbia’s first Nationwide open access fibre optic network; while also advising Global Infrastructure Partners on its acquisition of Savvi Energia, one of the largest privately held stand-alone power generators in Mexico.

The firm advised Energy Transfer on its $7.2 billion acquisition of Enable Midstream partners; and also acted for Chevron on its $1.2 billion cutting-edge renewable fuels joint venture with Bunge.

According to the Latham submission: “We build teams that leverage our first-rate technical knowledge and our sophisticated understanding of the global sector to serve our clients’ evolving needs.

“Operationally, we harness technology and data analytics while embracing creative project management approaches and fee arrangements to deliver superb client service.”