Mr. Amon concentrates in international project finance and privatization transactions.  During his thirty-six years at White & Case he has been based in the New York, London, Brussels, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Prague offices.  From 1990 to 1995, he was responsible for the development of the Firm’s practice in Central and Eastern Europe.  Mr. Amon is currently based in the New York office.

Mr. Amon has considerable experience in the Airport Sector.  He is currently advising a group of sponsors, including Aecon Construction Group of Toronto, Airport Development Corporation of Toronto, Andrade Gutierrez Concessoes of Belo Horizonte in Brazil and Houston Airport System of Houston, Texas, in connection with the design, engineering, procurement and construction of the New Quito International Airport (NQIA) and the operation of the existing Mariscal Sucre International Airport and the eventual operation of NQIA in Quito, Ecuador.  The Ecuador company formed by the sponsors, Corporacion Quiport S.A. (Quiport), was awarded a concession for the project, and Mr. Amon has assisted Quiport in the preparation and negotiation of the Concession Contract, the Construction Contract and all related project documentation, as well as the financing agreements with Export Development Canada, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Inter-American Development Bank.  This USD600 million project is due to close by the end of this year.

In addition, Mr. Amon is currently advising the Government of Madagascar and the International Finance Corporation in connection with the restructuring and privatization of the major airport, as well as various smaller airports, in Madagascar.  Eventually, the Government of Madagascar will award a concession to a successful bidder to refurbish and operate these airports.  After completion of the due diligence phase of the project, Mr. Amon and the White & Case team will prepare a Request for Proposal and a form of concession contract to be submitted to potential bidders and then assist the Government and IFC to review the proposals and award the concession. 

Mr. Amon has also recently advised the International Finance Corporation and Middle East Airlines, based in Beirut, Lebanon, with respect to the restructuring and eventual privatization of MEA. 

Mr. Amon has also recently worked on a number of other infrastructure projects involving the award of concessions.  He advised KPMG and the Government of Albania in connection with the restructuring and privatization of the municipal water works in four cities in Albania and assisted the International Finance Corporation in connection with the restructuring and privatization of elements of the Port of Suape in Brazil and the restructuring and privatization of water works located in Gavaio, also in Brazil. 

From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Amon advised the International Finance Corporation and the State of Sao Paolo with respect to the development of the Line 4 Project in São Paulo, Brazil.  As proposed, this ten-kilometer underground subway line would have formed part of the greater metropolitan São Paulo system and would have involved the award of a concession to the private sector to design, build and operate the Line 4 Project.  Mr. Amon helped the IFC and the State of Sao Paolo structure the transaction and prepare the request for proposals.  The project was subsequently deferred.

From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Amon advised Florida Overland eXpress (FOX), an international consortium of companies led by Fluor Daniel, in connection with the proposed development of a high-speed rail transportation system in the State of Florida.  FOX was awarded a concession for this project in April 1996.  Mr. Amon helped FOX structure its proposal and participated in all aspects of the competitive bid submitted by FOX in response to the request for proposals of the Florida Department of Transportation.  He also assisted FOX in the negotiation and execution of the concession and financing documentation and the preparation of Florida legislation necessary to implement the transaction. 

During 1996 and 1997, Mr. Amon advised Southern Energy, Inc. and Tractebel S.A. and their respective affiliates in connection with the proposed development of an approximately 1,000-kilometer natural gas pipeline to run from northern Argentina to northern Chile.  Mr. Amon advised the project sponsors in connection with the cross-border structure of the transaction, the execution of EPC and gas purchase contracts and the project financing of this transaction.

In 1996 and 1997, Mr. Amon completed work on the first independent power project financing in Central and Eastern Europe, the 150 MW Kladno project in the Czech Republic.  White & Case represented the International Finance Corporation in this transaction and assisted the IFC in developing a security package for the financing of this transaction that was tailored to meet the requirements of Czech law yet be acceptable to international financial institutions.

While based in Central and Eastern Europe, Mr. Amon advised Skoda Motor Works in connection with its sale of a controlling interest in Skoda to Volkswagen AG.  Mr. Amon has also been actively involved in numerous project financing transactions in Central and Eastern Europe including:

• Representation of AMBO in connection with a proposed crude oil pipeline to run through Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania;
• Representation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in connection with the Slovalco Aluminum project in the Slovak Republic;
• Representation of the EBRD in connection with the financing of the concession to build, operate and transfer the M5 Toll Motorway Project Hungary;
• Representation of an international consortium of construction companies lead by Philip Holzmann of Germany in connection with its bid to obtain the concession to build, operate and transfer the M1/M15 Toll Motorway Project in Hungary; and
• Representation of the Albanian government in connection with the proposed restructuring and privatization of Albchrome, the state chromium enterprise, an undertaking that involved a comprehensive review of numerous Albanian laws affecting foreign investment in Albania.

From 1984-1987, Mr. Amon represented the international syndicate of lenders lead by Bank of America, International Bank of Japan, Royal Bank of Canada and Credit Lyonnais in connection with the An Tai Bao coal mine development project financing in the People’s Republic of China, at the time the first project financing undertaken in the PRC.