A view of the Yarra River, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Mid-tier Australia law firm Johnson Winter & Slattery has hired the former global leader of Sidley Austin's project finance and infrastructure group to join its partnership in Melbourne.

Nicholas Grambas joins the firm from Sidley Austin in Singapore and New York and has more than 25 years of experience in Asia, Australia, Europe, the United States and the Middle East.

He represents strategic and financial sponsors, lenders and arrangers on complex equity and debt transactions for greenfield and brownfield assets and advises on acquisitions, auctions, divestments, privatizations, joint ventures and project finance, Johnson Winter said.

He also has worked on the commercial and legal structuring of transactions across a range of sectors, including infrastructure, utilities, power and renewables, water and wastewater, district energy, mining and resources, the firm said.

"Nicholas has a strong practice representing investors and project sponsors on a range of complex infrastructure asset deals, with a strong focus on the energy sector," Johnson Winter managing partner Peter Slattery said in a statement.

Slattery added that the firm is known in the market for having one of the largest and most widely experienced energy practices in Australia, and that Grambas will help the firm continue to build its corporate offering.

Before Joining Sidley Austin in 2013, Grambas was a partner at local corporate firm Gilbert + Tobin and before that at Baker McKenzie, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was educated at the University of Melbourne.

Johnson Winter has also hired partners from Herbert Smith Freehills and Clifford Chance this year.

Sidley Austin could not immediately be reached for comment.