Pinsent Masons appoints Ian Laing as Global Head of Infrastructure

Ian joined Pinsent Masons in 1998 and specialises in capital projects. He has lived and worked in the UK, Hong Kong and most recently Singapore. He will continue to be based Singapore and becomes the Firm's first global sector head based in the region.

Ian has developed an enviable reputation for delivering significant economic infrastructure investments including projects such as the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, the Colombo Port City project in Sri Lanka and the East Coast Rail Line in Malaysia - one of the biggest Belt and Road projects to date.

Ian succeeds Richard Laudy. Under Richard's stewardship Pinsent Masons' infrastructure sector has rapidly internationalised and established a full-service offering in relation to the structuring, funding, delivery and disposal of infrastructure assets in addition to disputes and litigation work. Richard played a pivotal role in establishing the Firm's infrastructure offerings in Australia and South Africa. Pinsent Masons now acts for a range of infrastructure providers including more than half the world's top 50 contractors as well as funders and investors, and work originating in the sector accounts for some 20% of the Firm's global revenues.

Richard will stay with the Firm and be tasked with further-developing its growing Africa practice.

Pinsent Masons' infrastructure team has worked on a number of significant deals recently including advising Dangote Industries on the procurement of its $12bn greenfield oil refinery in Nigeria (the largest on the continent once completed).

Ian Laing, Global Head of Infrastructure at Pinsent Masons said, "We have developed a global multi-disciplinary offering that gives governments and private companies alike the advice needed to plan, analyse, structure and execute large-scale capital projects - and investors the confidence to fund projects internationally. Major infrastructure providers are no longer working one jurisdiction, but operating in many. Further, we are seeing technology and data drive change in the sector and that's something we are uniquely well-placed to support upon. We have the global resource, and the local knowledge to understand the commercial, geographical, political, strategic, and technical, factors that impact infrastructure markets around the world."

Richard Foley, Senior Partner at Pinsent Masons said, "The infrastructure sector is rapidly evolving and Ian is an excellent choice to ensure we continue to stay ahead of that. Increasing legal, regulatory and political complexity and risks are challenging clients in this sector. As a result, our clients continue to demand more than pure legal expertise and that means that, whilst law remains at the core of our business we are deploying frequently a wider range of professional skillsets and technologies which are complimentary to sector and legal experience. Ian is a natural innovator and a great ambassador of the Firm's values, both of which are important at a time of immense change for the firm and the infrastructure sector."