8 January 2025 – Clyde & Co today announces the appointment of Sebastian Lea as partner in its Energy, Marine and Natural Resources (EMNR) practice in London. His arrival reinforces the firm’s support for clients around marine assets, energy and offshore projects and further strengthens its broader transactional capabilities. Financing specialist Clemens Hillmer has also joined the firm’s Hamburg maritime practice as partner. He has joined together with counsel Jan Mommsen and of counsel Tilman Stein.
Sebastian Lea, who joins from Wikborg Rein, specialises in international upstream, midstream and downstream projects in the oil and gas sector, with a particular emphasis on LNG assets, regularly acting for owners, operators and sponsors in the sector.
Will Trustram, partner, Clyde & Co comments: “The maritime industry is undergoing significant change, with growing decarbonisation initiatives and investment in alternative fuels. Sebastian’s broad knowledge and experience advising on offshore energy and floating LNG projects brings valuable insight to the team. His arrival means we can continue to fully support our clients across the lifecycle of projects as they seek opportunities in this evolving space.”
Sebastian Lea comments: “Clyde & Co is well-respected and widely known in the marine sector. Its global footprint and leading reputation make it an ideal place to continue to grow our marine assets and offshore projects offering and I look forward to supporting the team and our clients in a critical and fast-moving time for the industry.”
Clemens Hillmer specialises in financing and other transportation transactions. He joins with his team from Watson, Farley & Williams where he headed the firm’s German Assets & Structured Finance Group.
Clemens and his team advise on asset and other structured financing, leasing transactions, restructurings, insolvencies and workouts, and credit portfolio transfers. In addition, the team provides support for the purchase and sale of ships and aircraft, as well as employment and management contracts. Clemens also advises on regulatory issues related to sustainable shipping (e.g. the EU’s Emissions Trading System, the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, ship recycling).
His clients include domestic and foreign banks and financial institutions, companies in both the shipping (shipowners, managers and charterers) and aviation sectors, as well as private equity and other investors.
“The addition of Clemens strengthens our position as one of the leading law firms in Hamburg for the maritime industry,” Volker Lücke and Eckehard Volz, co-heads of the Energy, Marine & Natural Resources department in Germany, say. “We are very pleased to welcome such a highly regarded specialist in the market for maritime financing and transactions. His transactional practice ideally complements our advisory services in this strategically important area. With Clemens, Jan and Tilman, we can offer our clients in the transport sector comprehensive, integrated and cross-border services.”
Clemens Hillmer says: “Clyde & Co is an excellent platform for my business at the interface between the transactional business and the maritime industry. The support provided by the Hamburg team of solicitors qualified in English law will also be a great advantage. I look forward to working with my new colleagues and contributing to further growth.”
Clemens and his team have advised on several high-profile ship financing transactions in recent years, including the following transactions, which were honoured by Marine Money with its prestigious “Deal of the Year” award.
- HSH Nordbank AG in developing a new restructuring structure with various credit tranches and a volume of more than USD 1 billion (Nautilus structure).
- HSH Portfolio Management, the “bad bank” of HSH Nordbank, on the sale of its more than USD 1 billion shipping loan portfolio.
- Joh. Berenberg, Gossler (“Berenberg”) on a fund level facility (“FLF”) that Berenberg granted to a loan fund as an alternative lender to refinance sale and lease back shipping transactions. Berenberg has since granted various other FLFs based on the structure developed.
Clyde & Co’s Hamburg office has doubled in size since its opening in February 2019. The addition of Clemens Hillmer and his team brings the number of partners to six alongside 27 lawyers and solicitors.
With more than 2,700 lawyers on six continents and a broad footprint in the transport sector, Clyde & Co is a major player in the market. The Hamburg office, with almost 30 legal advisors, has one of the largest teams in Hamburg dedicated to maritime law.
The arrival of Sebastian, Clemens and his team represents the latest investment from Clyde & Co in its global energy and marine capabilities. It follows the recent hires Marianne Anton in London from Watson Farley & Williams and Alex Blomfield from Simmons & Simmons (November 2024). And in Warsaw, the hires of Agnieszka Kulińska, Arkadiusz (Arek) Krasnodębski and a team of twenty at the start of last year.
