Alison Babbitt
Partner, Canadian Co-Head of Responsible Business and Sustainability
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Alison Babbitt is an English- and Ontario-qualified project finance lawyer focussed on mining, renewables and clean technology sectors. Having previously worked in our London and Bahrain offices, and now located in Canada, she has significant experience advising on both domestic and multi-jurisdictional international projects. She also advises a broad range of clients on compliance with modern slavery laws and human rights, and on a broad range of environmental, social and sustainability matters.
Ms. Babbitt has played an integral role advising clients on transactions across a number of industry sectors (mining, renewables, clean technology, infrastructure, P3, conventional power and oil and gas). She is an organized, solutions-oriented lawyer with a strong familiarity of the policies and terms and conditions of many financial institutions and the commercial realities and issues faced by project developers and among lending groups. Her ability to navigate complex issues and assist with formulating solutions to satisfy often disparate requirements among project participants has been recognized by the clients she serves, which include sponsors, commercial lenders, Islamic finance institutions, export credit agencies and development and multilateral financing institutions.
Ms. Babbitt is the Ottawa chair of our business law group.
Professional experience
Collapse allLPC, Nottingham Law School, 2000
CPE, College of Law, 1999
LL.B., University of Aberdeen, 1998
Diploma in French Law, Université Pierre Mendès, 1996
- Ontario 2009
- Solicitor, qualified in England & Wales 2002
Ms. Babbitt has acted recently in the following matters:
- Mantoverde copper mine expansion, Chile – advising the export agencies, commercial lenders and hedge providers on the financing of this expansion project in Chile
- Bloom Lake, Quebec, Newfoundland & Labrador – advising the joint lead arrangers and lending syndicate with respect to the US$200 million financing, and subsequent US$400 million refinancing of Champion Iron's Bloom Lake iron ore mine, Quebec
- Fruta del Norte – advising Lundin Gold Inc. in the construction and development and subsequent project financings, by gold prepay and stream lenders, commercial lenders and export credit support, of the US$1 billion Fruta del Norte gold mine project in Ecuador
- Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine – advising a syndicate of Canadian and international lenders and export credit agency on the financing of the Gahcho Kue Diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. An unincorporated joint venture structure is unusual in mining project financing, and laid the foundation for a bespoke structure financing to a joint venture partner for its US$370 million share of the construction costs
- Wisokolamson Windfarm Project, New Brunswick – advising the lender, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, in the provision of facilities for the construction and operation of a five turnbine, 18 MW wind farm project near Riverside-Albert, New Brunswick, a project under New Brunswick's LORESS programme
- Los Loros Solar PV Power Project, Chile – acting for the mezzanine lenders in the US$100 million project financing for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 53MW solar photovoltaic power plant and associated facilities, including 6.8-km transmission line
- Beothuk Offshore Wind Projects – advising Beothuk on the initial development stages of its proposed offshore wind projects in Atlantic Canada and its joint venture arrangements with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
- Windfarm project, Sardinia, Italy – advising US Exim with respect to the export guarantee facilities for the construction of 30 mini wind power towers on the Island of Sardinia, Italy
- Seigneurie de Beaupré Wind Farms, Quebec – acted for Siemens Financial Services with respect to its participation in a lending consortium for the C$725 million non-recourse project financing of the 272 MW Seigneurie de Beaupré Wind Farms located northeast of Quebec City. Recognized by Project Finance International as "Americas Renewables Deal of the Year 2011"
- Itiquira hydroelectric project, Brazil – advised Export Development Canada on all aspects of the financing by way of its first synthetic bond structure, including complex inter-creditor issues, of the Itiquira hydro-electric facility in Brazil
- Best Lawyers in Canada: Project finance law, 2015-2024
- Chambers Canada, Nationwide: Energy & Natural Resources: Mining (Up and Coming), Chambers and Partners, 2024
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2017, 2021-2022, 2024: recommended in Project Finance; 2023-2024: recommended in Mining; 2023: recommended in Banking & Financial Institutions
- Profiled as a leading lawyer in the Lexpert Special Edition: Energy, 2021
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- Law Society of England & Wales
Insights
Global offshore wind: Key markets and prospects
Publication | September 27, 2023
Global offshore wind: Canada
Publication | July 05, 2023