Eversheds Sutherland has appointed Rafael Cruz Torres as counsel in the Energy department of the firm’s Spanish office. His appointment is part of the firm’s strategy to boost a practice that is at a turning point given the continuous evolution faced by the sector.
Rafael Cruz, who until now held the position of global general counsel of the thermal division of the ContourGlobal group, has more than 20 years of energy experience in all types of negotiations and Corporate transactions, as well as Commercial and contractual advice on a wide range of matters, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, hydro and oil & gas (combined cycle, fossil fuels) plants. Throughout his long career, Cruz has negotiated and advised on the creation of joint ventures, venture capital companies, management companies, and all types of transactions both for the development of portfolios and for the acquisition, financing, sale and management of the same, including power purchase agreements (PPAs) between individuals and with governments, turnkey engineering (EPCs), operation and maintenance, etc. All of this, from a deep understanding of the operational, financial and strategic needs of the sector.
Rafael is a Law graduate from the University of Jaén and a member of the Madrid Bar Association since 1999. He began his career at Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, after which he joined the international law firm Linklaters as an associate until 2005 when he joined Allen & Overy in Madrid as a senior associate specialising in infrastructure and renewable energies in the firm’s Corporate and Commercial department. In 2013, he joined the private equity fund manager Plenium Partners, a company specialising in the acquisition, management and operation of renewable energy assets in Spain, Italy and Portugal, as head of legal advice, until 2018, when he was appointed global general counsel of the thermal division of ContourGlobal, listed on the London Stock Exchange, where he has been responsible for the legal management of eighteen jurisdictions in Europe, Africa and Latin America, and has been a member of the group’s Senior Executive Committee.
Jacobo Martínez stated that: “Rafael is an excellent professional with proven and extensive experience in the energy sector. His incorporation to our team will be a definitive boost in a practice that is going through a decisive moment, given the boom in the energy sector in Spain, the appetite for investment and the complex market regulations. With Rafael’s incorporation, we consolidate our capacity to offer highly qualified advice to our clients’ needs in one of the most strategic sectors of our firm at a global level.”
“I am grateful for the trust placed in me by Eversheds Sutherland, and I hope to be able to offer clients differential advice, based on the knowledge of the real needs of the sector, at a time when the energy sector is facing continuous challenges of the global world such as supply chain problems or the continuous technological evolution and the search for alternative energy sources that require innovative legal advice,” said Rafael Cruz.
