Guillaume P. Blanc

Guillaume P. Blanc is an executive in ENSafrica’s project development and project finance department. He specialises in project acquisition, development and finance, as well as energy, utilities, mining and petroleum law.

Guillaume has gained more than 20 years of experience in law firms in Africa (South Africa and Mauritius), Europe (London and Paris) and the Asia-Pacific (Sydney, Perth and a secondment in Shanghai).

He has advised clients in developing markets on the acquisition, financing and development of energy, water, oil, gas and mining projects across many jurisdictions, in particular:

• Latin America (French Guiana, Brazil)
• Europe (France, Spain and Luxemburg)
• Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, DRC, Burundi, Djibouti, Madagascar, Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe); and
• the Asia-Pacific area (China, Mongolia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia).

Guillaume’s energy and natural resources law experience includes advising clients on the legislative and regulatory framework and permitting process relevant to corporate and property acquisitions relating to energy and natural resources; conducting acquisition due diligence investigations in respect of energy, oil and gas and mineral companies, properties, tenements and assets; and advising on exploration and production agreements, production and supply agreements, off-take agreements, and other contractual matters.

His project acquisition, development and finance experience includes acquisition due diligence investigations in respect of project companies and assets; project structuring; project-related regulatory and legislative advice; project sponsorship, ownership and financing; and project development and procurement. His experience covers the following phases of the project acquisition, development and financing lifecycle:

• advising on project acquisition, ownership and development
• completing acquisition due diligence investigations in respect of project companies, assets, properties and tenements, including providing legal opinions and title reports
• drafting, negotiating and managing government support and participation structures, investment incentives and permitting/regulatory processes and applications
• drafting, negotiating, reviewing and amending project development agreements, including concessions, joint-development or production agreements, joint-operating agreements, off-take agreements and exiting agreements
• drafting, negotiating, reviewing and amending financing agreements, including loan agreements, project finance lending agreements, sponsor support and security packages.

Guillaume has acted as legal counsel to project owners, sponsors and lenders. In addition, he has advised governments (China, Vietnam and Morocco) and international development institutions (the World Bank, AusAID, CIDA, ABD and the EU) on the reform of mineral/energy legislation and public administrations, as well as on the privatisation of state-owned oil, electricity and water production and distribution operators (Morocco, Gabon, Burundi, Cameroon and Djibouti).

ENSAFRICA’S MINING LAW PRACTICE:

ENSafrica has a deep understanding of the commercial, regulatory and technical aspects of the business of mining, and is entrusted by local and international clients to develop innovative solutions that best meet their individual needs.

As a result, ENSafrica has a solid reputation in industry transactions, having led a number of large, high-profile, complex mining matters. The firm also guides clients in establishing in-country and cross-border operations throughout Africa, and is renowned for its ability to manage risk and leverage opportunities for clients in the mining sector.

ENSafrica offers the full spectrum of legal expertise across the mining value chain in Africa, including providing advice on, and assistance with:

• regulatory compliance
• environment
• mine and occupational health and safety
• access to mines, and land- and surface-use matters
• local content and empowerment
• community development and stakeholder management
• mineral royalties
• upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas industry activities
• corporate commercial
• M&A, group restructuring and joint ventures
• due diligence investigations
• competition and anti-trust
• listings (JSE, AltX, ASX and AIM)
• tax, mining tax, exchange control and transfer pricing
• project development and project finance
• resource finance, sophisticated funding arrangements and debt capital markets
• insolvency, business rescue and debt recovery
• dispute resolution

ENSAFRICA:

ENSafrica is Africa’s largest law firm, with over 600 practitioners, and more than 200 years of experience in high-level, complex commercial work. The firm’s focus is on what’s best for the client and striving for excellence, in both offering and service. ENSafrica is committed to providing clients with cost-effective outcomes by ensuring work is done at the right level, and in the manner that best suits clients’ preferences and pricing structures.

ENSafrica is an independent law firm with fully integrated offices across Southern, West and East Africa and Mauritius. The firm offers clients many years’ accumulated know-how and solid experience, whether doing business in-country or cross-continent, helping to minimise risk and leverage business opportunities across Africa.

ENSafrica has lawyers qualified to practise English, French and OHADA law, a dedicated Asia practice group, as well as practitioners who are fluent in African and international languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Portuguese and Swahili.

Through the financial services centre of Mauritius, ENSafrica also offers a unique possibility to integrate all aspects of structuring clients’ investments in relation to all commercial areas of law, tax, IP and fiduciary.