Jonathan Dames

Practice Areas

Jonathan has been a partner since 2007. Jonathan’s practice has traditionally been split between energy project financing and infrastructure project finance.

Jonathan has a wealth of experience in project finance, including PFI, PF2, NPD and other forms of PPP and structured financings. He has delivered solutions involving bank debt, bond issues (public and private placements), mezzanine financing, holdco financings and portfolio financing and worked on many deals involving IFIs and ECAs. He acts for a mix of sponsors, funders and contractors. These clients operate across an array of sectors including accommodation, airports, blue light/emergency services, custodial and justice, defence, education, energy, health, ports, railways, roads, telecoms/IT/satellites, utility and waste infrastructure. In the last few years, he has also had increasing focused on projects in distress and contractual counterparties in dispute.

Jonathan has been at the firm for 19 years. Prior to working at CMS he worked as a SAP consultant for Druid Systems, working for, among others, GE and Cadbury’s.

Jonathan is an active supporter of a number of CSR activities in the firm including doing pro bono work for the Duchenne Children’s Trust, raising funds for the George Oliver Foundation and actively supporting the firm’s charity of the year (currently War Child).

Professional Memberships

Member of the Law Society

International Project Finance Association

TIF

Major Projects Association

Work Highlights

Energy

Grupa Lotos on the financing of the USD 2.8bn upgrade of an oil refinery located in Gdansk, Poland

Royal Bank of Scotland and National Australia Bank on the financing of the TRIG Fund revolving loan to refinance existing investments and make new investments in renewable energy projects.

Low Carbon Solar on financing of its portfolio of solar parks in the UK.

Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners on their acquisitions and refinancing of solar assets in the UK.

National Grid on its OFTOs

EBRD on the financing of a combined cycle gas turbine facility in Alchevsk, in the region of Lugansk, Ukraine

Aviva on its acquisition of wind assets from RES.

Infrastructure

Aviva on the project financing of Rock Rails successful bid for the Moorgate Rail franchise.

Aviva and EIB on the GBP 300m Dumfries and Galloway non-profit distributing hospital project.

Acorn consortium, made up of John Laing, Interserve and Laing O’Rourke, on a GBP 170m Private Finance Initiative project to design, build, finance and operate a new children’s hospital at Alder Hey in Liverpool funded by the European Investment Bank and M&G private placement.

The Department for Transport on the financing of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project since 1997 and specifically in relation to: (i) a number of refinancings of Sections 1 and 2 of the CTRL involving issuing government guaranteed bonds, (ii) securitising the assets of CTRL (UK) to secure issuing public bonds and raising bank debt including financing from EIB and KfW; (iii)rolling stock leasing arrangements (including Project Velocity); (iv) the London & Continental Railways group debt assumption; (v) the restructuring and sale of Eurostar International Limited; and (vi) the procurement process and arrangement of a stapled financing solution for, and c.£2bn sale of, High Speed 1.

Vinci and NTrans consortium on the bank and Government guaranteed bond financing of the Moscow/St. Petersburg Toll Road PPP project.

Laing O’Rourke and Equitix on the Yorkshire batch of Priority Schools Building Programme.

Equitix on the West Yorkshire Police Training Project.

InfraRed on the refinancing of the HICL revolving loan to refinance existing investments and make new investments in PPP projects.

Education