Virginia Murray
Partner Athens
Virginia is a Partner in the International Project & Structured Finance Group and Head of the Greek Law energy, corporate, projects and finance practice.
Virginia graduated in Law from Cambridge University in 1989 and practised as a barrister in London for five years before moving to Athens and qualifying as a Greek lawyer in 1998.
She joined Watson Farley & Williams in 2007 after ten years at a major Greek commercial law firm and specialises in acquisitions and financing in the infrastructure and energy sector, as well as real estate, corporate M&A, insurance and finance deals in Greece for Greek and foreign investors and banks. She is listed as a leading individual in the energy sector in most ranking publications and is a member of Legal 500’s Hall of Fame for her many years’ top ranking as a Greek energy expert.
Virginia is widely recognised for her energy, infrastructure, finance and corporate/M&A expertise by legal directories Chambers Europe, Legal 500 EMEA and IFLR 1000. Chambers notes that clients and peers describe her as “the perfect partner in a transaction” and a “beacon of the industry”. Other clients add that she is “always responsive and provides a top-notch level of service”.
- Advising EBRD on a €10.5m convertible bond loan to Noval Property REIC for the development, acquisition, and refurbishment of environmentally certified buildings, in order to achieve at least LEED “Gold” or BREEAM “Very Good” green certification. The loan will be mandatorily converted into newly issued shares of Noval Property, subject to predetermined conditions.
- Advising Cantreva S.A. on their sale of 75% of the shares of Unagi S.A. to Motor Oil Renewable Energy.
- Advising NextEnergy Capital on its first strategic solar and battery storage acquisitions in Greece. The acquisitions were made through NextPower III ESG, the international private solar fund managed by NEC, and include six utility-scale solar PV projects totalling 132 MWp and a majority stake in six standalone battery storage projects with totalled installed capacity of 400 MW.
- Advising Valorem Group on the project contract negotiation and debt financing of the 27 MW Magoula wind farm project in Kozani, Greece owned by its subsidiary Anatoliko Askio-Magoula SMSA.
- Advising Renven Limited on the sale of its stake in Iliaki Pikrolimnis S.A., a joint venture between Renven and Terna Energy SA, to Econergy Renewable Energy Limited, part of the Israeli listed Econergy Group.
- Advising Impax Asset Management Group Plc. on a solar PV joint venture with WATT+VOLT.
- Advising Wattcrop on a solar PV joint venture with Green Investment Group’s portfolio company Cero Generation.
- Advising Cubico Sustainable Investments on its acquisition of K-Wind Kitheronas Energy S.A., which owns and operates the 21 MW Kitheronas onshore wind farm in central Greece, from Intracom Holdings S.A.
- Advising RF Energy S.A. on the sale of five wind parks and two hydroelectric power plants with a 63.6MW aggregate capacity.
- Advising National Bank of Greece on a >10 year non-recourse acquisition financing to a consortium comprising Snam, Enagás and Fluxys to fund approximately 65% of the consideration for its acquisition, through Senfluga Energy Infrastructure Holdings, of a 66% stake in the Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator S.A. for €535m.
- Advising Total Eren and its Greek subsidiaries on a €200m Greek law cross-collateralised bond loan refinancing of three project companies, holding four operating wind farms and seven PV projects with a combined capacity of 157 MW with Eurobank Ergasias and Alpha Bank. Eurobank Ergasias acted as bondholder agent.
- Advising Terna Energy on a €24m bond loan financing provided by the European Investment Bank and Eurobank Ergasias acting as co-lenders.
- Advising EDF EN GREECE on the Greek bond loan refinancing of two 23 MW capacity onshore operating wind farms in Fokida, central Greece; Alpha Bank SA is the arranger and agent.
- Representing the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, on the sale of the shares in the Hellinikon Project.
Education
- 1991 · MA
- 1991 · Inns of Court School of Law – Bar Professional Course (Merit Pass)
- 1989 · Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, BA in Law: 2:1
memberships & associations
- Bar Council of England & Wales (non-practising member)
- Athens Bar
- Registered arbitrator for energy disputes at the Greek Regulatory Authority for Energy
- ArticleA New Era for Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Greece
- PressWFW advises Aer Soleir companies on development and financing of 360 MW Greek wind projects
- PressWFW advises ib vogt GmbH on sale of Greek PV and BESS portfolio
- PressWFW advises Attica Bank on €63M 41 MW Greek wind farm project financing
- PressWFW advises Eurobank on €315m 560 MW Greek solar project financing
