Mukund Dhar

Partner, London

Biography

“A fantastic partner who is commercial, efficient and strategic.”
Legal500 2023

“Very knowledgeable lawyer who is dedicated to mastering his client's business and objectives.”
Chambers UK 2023

Overview

Mukund is a partner in the Firm's market-leading project development and finance team and is based in London. He represents clients on energy and natural resources, infrastructure and telecommunications related matters and advises clients on joint ventures, acquisitions and divestments, project development and financings, and complex commercial contracts within these sectors. He has worked on significant capital projects in more than 20 countries.

Bars and Courts
Supreme Court of England and Wales
Education
BA, LLB (Hons)
National Law School of India University
Languages
English
Hindi

Experience

Energy and natural resources

Divestment of upstream interests in Azerbaijan, 2023 
Representation of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) on the sale of a 15% participating interest in the Absheron gas-condensate field (located in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea) to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Acquisition of upstream interests in Angola, 2022 
Representation of Somoil - Sociedade Petrolífera Angolana, S.A. (Somoil), on its acquisition of a 20% interest in Block 14 and a 10% interest in the adjacent Block 14K – from French supermajor TotalEnergies and Japan's Inpex and related financing fromn African Export-Import Bank and BAI - Banco Angolano de Investimentos.

Renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan, 2021 
Representation of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan on a 240 MW wind power project (by ACWA Power) and a 230-megawatt PV project (by Masdar) – which will be the first foreign investment-based power and renewable projects in the region.

Gas processing project in West Africa, 2021 
Representation of ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited, a gas processing company established by SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc and the Nigerian Gas Company on the ANOH gas project, a 300MMscfd gas processing plant in Nigeria.

Acquisition of upstream interests in Nigeria, 2021 
epresentation of TNOG Oil and Gas Limited, a related company of Heirs Holdings Oil & Gas Limited and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), on the highly innovative acquisition and acquisition financing of a 45% interest in OML 17 and related assets from Shell, Total and ENI in Nigeria.

LNG project in Southern Africa, 2021
Representation of the lenders on a landmark US$20 billion project financing of Mozambique's first onshore LNG development, Mozambique LNG, one of the largest ever foreign direct investments into Africa.

Satellite and telecommunications

South Asia and Australia, 2023
Representation of Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking and ING Bank N.V., Singapore Branch as mandated lead arrangers, original lenders and hedging providers, on the refinancing of the MEASAT-3b broadcasting and telecommunications satellite which provides coverage across Malaysia, Indonesia, South Asia and Australia.

Africa50, 2023
Representation of Africa50 on a partnership with Bayobab to develop Project East2West, a terrestrial fibre optic cable network connecting the eastern shores of Africa to those on the continent's west. The project will invest US$320 million to connect ten African countries, offer substantial improvements in data traffic and improve latency by almost two-thirds.

Indonesia Satellite, 2022
Representation of the lenders on the financing of the US$540 million Indonesia Government Multifunction Satellite Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project. Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Informatics (KOMINFO) initiated the Government of Indonesia Multifunctional Satellite PPP Project to provide fast internet access to remote areas in Indonesia.

Norwegian Satellite, 2021
Representation of DNB Bank ASA as mandated lead arranger and lender on the financing of the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission. The project, which will benefit from support from the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (GIEK), is being executed and will be operated by Space Norway, a state-owned limited company that is managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries.

Awards and Recognition

Leading Individual, Legal500 UK - Power (Including Electricity, Nuclear and Renewables) 2024

Ranked, Chambers UK - Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas - UK-wide 2024

Ranked, Chambers Global - Projects & Energy: Africa-Wide 2024  

"He is very knowledgeable and has a knack for creative problem solving."
Chambers 2022

"Mukund Dhar is brilliant at what he does", "Excellent negotiator."
Legal500 2022