Sharif Touray has wide-ranging experience in international and domestic project finance, Islamic finance, and other secured financing transactions, including significant experience in electric power, telecommunications and other infrastructure sectors.

Mr. Touray has worked on numerous foreign and US domestic electric power, telecommunications, natural resources and pipeline projects, as well as process plants and manufacturing facilities. He has had significant experience representing developers, including AES, Diamond Energy, MMC Energy, and Kamine Bessicorp, as well as financial institutions, including GE Capital, Bank of America, Bank of New York, IBJ Schroeder and US Ex-Im Bank, in the drafting, negotiation and administration of all types of financing documents and project documents, including EPC contracts. He has also acted as an expert witness in connection with construction disputes.

Before joining DLA Piper, Mr. Touray had been a Managing Director and Counsel at GE Capital’s Structured Finance Group, where he was involved in day-to-day counseling relating to green field projects as well as purchases and sales, restructuring, and operation and maintenance of existing assets.

Mr. Touray did graduate work in Rock Mechanics at Imperial College (London) and has practiced or taught structural engineering in the US, the UK and Ghana before practicing law with several law firms, including Chadbourne & Parke, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Mr. Touray speaks six languages, among them Arabic, French and Hausa.

Representative Transactions

Transportation Projects

• Acting for Kenya Railway Corporation in the negotiation of an existing concession agreement with Rift Valley Railways and the structuring of a new concession for the proposed commuter rail project for Nairobi, Kenya
• Representing a consortium of investors in the negotiation of a concession agreement for a railroad project in Ghana
• Counsel to GE Capital as railcar lessor and lender in every manner of finance transaction involving locomotives or freight railcars, including leveraged leases, single investor leases, LILO financings, secured debt financings, full service leases, interim user agreements and strips
• Representing a US investor in the negotiation of a on the renewal of the concession to own, operate and develop Port-au-Prince Airport, Haiti
• Advised Solar Capital LLC, as a lender, in the closing of the restructuring of a first lien, second lien and mezzanine credit facilities in the aggregate amount of US$115 million for inventory and acquisition financing of a group of US technology companies
• Representing Sohar Special Projects Company, as borrower, in connection with the construction and term financing of US$160 million, for the design, construction, commissioning and operation of the maritime infrastructure to be operated by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce , a company registered in Brazil, acting through Vale’s subsidiary CVRD International SA, a company registered in Switzerland
• Representing Sohar Industrial Port Company, a JV between Rotterdam Municipal Port and Oman Government’s Ministry of Transport and Communication, on expanding the Port of Sohar, extending the concession period and securing new industries and new tenants
• Advising the port operator for the government of the Sultanate of Oman in connection with the infrastructure development and negotiation of a 30-year concession for a large container transshipment facility in Mina Raysut, in Salalah, Oman. Duties included the preparation and negotiation of the concession agreement and related documentation in connection with various financings, providing commercial and legal advice regarding port infrastructure development, land usufruct and lease issues, creation of a one-stop shop, regulatory framework for free economic zones, ports and industrial parks, drafting of rules and regulations for the use and operation of the port, bunkering agreements, port terminating agreements Represented the Government of the Sultanate of Oman in the development of port facilities at Duqm, in the Al-Wusta region of Oman, which is to include a quay wall for general cargo and container usage, as well as space for liquid exports and bulk imports, and a related industrial area, including space for a free trade zone and a dry-dock complex

Energy and Power Projects

• Representing the Government of Iraq in connection with its nationwide US$20 billion-plus re-electrification efforts, including all aspects of pre-bid and bid preparation, advertisement, bidder conferences, bid selection, negotiation with winning bidders and preparation of contract documents, as well as negotiations with equipment suppliers, contractors and other project participants
• Representing the US Ex-Im bank and other export credit agencies (ECAs) in the US$3.2 billion financing of the Ras Laffan LNG Project, comprising a US$703 million ECA tranche, a US$382 million commercial bank tranche and a US$1.2 billion bond offering (the largest debt issue for any international project at the time, the first for a LNG project, and the first for a Middle Eastern issuer with a maturity beyond seven years); the project was sponsored by The Ras Laffan Natural Liquefied Gas Company, Limited (Ras Gas), a joint venture between the state-owned Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC) and Mobil Corporation of the US (Mobil), and others
• Representing IBJ Schroeder Bank & Trust Co. as indenture trustees in the US$600 million bond issuance for the Oman LNG Project
• Representing a group of sponsors in the development and financing of a 400 MW power project in Ghana
• Representing the Portuguese developer of a number of wind energy projects in the procurement of wind turbines for US locations
• Representing the sponsor of a renewable energy project in Hawaii
• Representing GE Capital in a preferred equity investment in the Zhabei power project in China
• Representing GE Capital in the 2002 reorganization of Covanta
• Representing GE Capital in its offer to purchase, along with Aquila, the assets of Cogentrix
• Representing GE Capital in the restructuring of Lake Cogen power projects in the US and the construction of a new steam host
• Representing GE Capital in a common equity investment in the GTi Dakar power project in Senegal
• Representing GE Capital in private equity investments in emerging energy technologies
• Representing GE Capital in a US$100 million equity investment in gas pipeline facilities in the Hugoton basin in the United States
• Representing GE Capital in a US$56 million high-yield debt investment in the Oxbow coal mining projects in Ohio and Pennsylvania
• Representing Bank of America as financial advisor and lead lender for a 120 MW coal-fired generation facility in San José, Guatemala; supervised due diligence on project documents, drafted and negotiated credit, collateral security and other financing documents including OPIC trust documentation
• Representing financial institutions including Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank of New York and IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co., as collateral trustees, indenture trustees and/or common security agents in various infrastructure financings and privatizations, including the US$980 million mezzanine financing for the Ras Laffan Project (LNG plant in Qatar), the US$240 million Maritime North East Pipeline bond issuances and the Sincor Project (oil production, processing and transportation facilities in Venezuela)
• Counseling project companies (including AES, Diamond Energy, and Kamine-Bessicorp) in the development, financing and construction of power projects in the United States (California, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Virginia); Costa Rica, Gambia, India, Pakistan, The Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda
• Representing Credit Suisse as lender in the development, construction and operation of four power projects sponsored by Hadson Power Company in Virginia
• Representing AES in he development of power projects in Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania
• Representing US Ex-Im Bank in the financing of a US$5 billion LNG project in Qatar
• Advising the B-lender in a loop-debt leveraged leased financing of a system of gas pipelines in the Netherlands

Telecommunications Projects

• Counseling SkyMax Network, a US telecommunications company, in its bid to provide 4G ICT infrastructure and services to the public and private sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Advising a telecommunications and data services company with operations in 22 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia on matters including development and joint venture issues, drafting and negotiating various agreements, counseling on financing, tax, personnel and other operational concerns involving licensees and partners in various countries
• Counseling KASTAR Inc., a telecommunications company, in the acquisition and launching of satellites and the sale of capacity to a leading Internet services provider
• Representing an Australian-Alaskan joint venture involved in the development, construction and operation of a 400-mile fiber optic telecommunications backbone in Alaska
• Representing KMC Telecom, Inc., a US telecom company, in the development, financing, construction and operation of fiber optic backbone systems in Alabama, Florida and South Carolina
• Representing Bank of America as financial advisor and lead agent in the US$1 billion Alestra fiber optic telecommunications project being developed in Mexico through a joint venture sponsored by AT&T and Alfa

Fund Transactions

• Lead counsel representing the Christie Company, as fund manager, in formation of the Africa Integras Fund
• Lead counsel representing a consortium of public development agencies and private lenders (led by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) acting as sponsor, The Standard Bank Group of South Africa and Barclays Bank as senior lenders, and the development finance institutions of the Netherlands (FMO), South Africa (DBSA) and Germany (DEG) as subordinated lenders), with Emerging Markets Partnership, a Washington DC-based fund manager, providing fund management counsel in establishing and launching the US$350 - 450 million Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, the first fund of its kind, designed to provide long-term debt finance to commercially viable private sector infrastructure ventures in sub-Saharan Africa concentrating on the power, telecommunications, transport, water and sanitation sectors. A landmark assignment, the concept of a debt fund itself is innovative and created complex issues, requiring the resolution of often conflicting interests of the various stakeholders to achieve quick closure on this very important source of debt finance for projects in Africa; assisted in the preparation of the bid documentation, reviewed all commercial terms and assisted in the articulation of the outline Investment Policy and governance arrangements
• Senior lawyer on a team preparing documentation relating to the establishment of the US$150 million South East Asia Infrastructure Fund sponsored by OPIC
• Counseled New Africa Advisers as Fund Manager in the US$350 million New Africa Infrastructure Fund
• Counseled TCW in connection with the establishment of the US$1 billion Latin America Mezzanine and Infrastructure Fund
• Lead lawyer counseling Standard Bank (London Branch) in the creation of the US$350 million Africa Private Infrastructure Fund, sponsored by the UK Department for International Development, FMO and several private financial institutions
• Lead counsel representing the Africa Integras Fund in its investments in a number of infrastructure projects in Africa, including the development of university infrastructure projects in Rwanda, a hospitality project in Sierra Leone, a cement project in Nigeria and projects in other African countries

Miscellaneous Infrastructure Projects

• Acting for US Export-Import Bank in various transactions including a US$320 million extension of credit to an oil processing facility in the Philippines
• Acting for US Ex-Im Bank in the financing of a US$350 million ammonia plant in Trinidad
• Representing PaineWebber, Inc., as financial advisor and underwriter, in the tax-exempt bond financing of a state-of-the-art US$220 million ceramic tile facility to be located in Pennsylvania
• Represented Deutsche Bank (North America) in the development of a franchise loan program; developed form loan and security documentation and on several subsequent program loan transactions
• Representing IBJ Schroder Bank & Trust Co., as collateral trustee, in the US$150 million recapitalization of ASAT (a provider of semiconductor assembly and testing services)
• Counseling various instrumentalities of the Government of Oman in the development, financing, construction and operation of a wide variety of infrastructure projects including ports and harbors and all aspects of the development, financing, construction, operation and management of Special Economic Zones in the Sultanate of Oman