Finalists
Chadbourne & Parke
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyer
ENSafrica
Linklaters
Norton Rose Fulbright
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
Simmons & Simmons

Winner: Chadbourne & Parke

Chadbourne & Parke caught the eye of the judging panel for its work advising Itezhi Tezhi Power Corporation on the development and financing of its 120 megawatt hydroelectric facility on the Kafue River in Zambia.

This landmark project aims to ease the country's power crisis, boosting economic development. It has been envisioned since the dam was originally constructed in the 1970s, and the Itezhi Tezhi Power Corporation was formed as a public/private partnership between Zambian electricity utility ZESCO and Tata Africa/Tata Power to realise this goal.

The financing was closed in May 2015, after more than seven years of work by Chadbourne's team, led by partners Ben Donovan and Ursula Owczarkowski. The legal work involved negotiating with multiple counterparties including various departments of the Government of the Republic of Zambia and a club of lenders.

A key challenge was managing the government relationships and the team held weekly status calls with the client in order to keep it appraised of developments. The firm also agreed a fixed legal fee for each stage of the project.

"True technical legal excellence topped off with first class project management skills," said the judges.