Bird & Bird grows its Energy & Utilities team with the appointment of Roger van Buuren as a finance partner in The Netherlands

With 20 years of experience, Roger specialises primarily in project finance in the energy and utilities sector as well as, acquisition and real estate finance. He previously worked as a finance lawyer at several leading Dutch law firms and ABN AMRO Bank. More recently, he returned to private practice as a partner at the Dutch firm Bond Advocaten where he advised lenders and borrowers on finance transactions.

At Bird & Bird, Roger will further develop both the Dutch Finance practice as well as the international Finance group. Given his experience in project finance and energy projects, Roger will work closely with partner Sophie Dingenen on projects relating to project finance, acquisition finance, real estate finance and cross border secured lending.

Jeroen van der Lee and Marcus Huisman, co-heads of The Netherlands at Bird & Bird say: "We are delighted to welcome Roger to our team in the Netherlands. Roger's expertise in project finance will perfectly complement our finance and energy capabilities led by Sophie Dingenen, and our corporate related finance work. Welcome to the team Roger."

Matt Bonass, co-head of the international Energy & Utilities sector group at Bird & Bird comments: "Interest in the Netherlands for renewable energy projects and the demand for legal advice each continue to grow. Roger's longstanding banking and project finance expertise will develop and strengthen the Dutch Energy & Utilities sector group. His hire perfectly complements recent banking and finance hires Conrad Purcell, Pierpaolo Mastromarini and Sibylle Weiler in London, Rome and Paris respectively and is part of our strategy to grow our international energy project finance team."

Roger adds: "I am excited to join a well-regarded firm like Bird & Bird. The firm's Energy & Utilities and Finance teams are well-known in the market and its strong international network means there is huge potential to further expand my project finance practice."