Simon Irvine has joined Clayton Utz from the Hong Kong office of international firm Pinsent Masons. Prior to that he spent 10 years at international firm Allen & Overy where he gained significant experience advising on a wide range of high-profile project financing deals throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Joining the firm as a senior associate, Chris Redden has spent the last six years with Linklaters, specialising in international project finance across a broad range of sectors.

Irvine believes that the Australian project finance market is set to experience strong growth over the next year as a result of increasing private sector investment in projects in the resources, energy, renewables and infrastructure areas, as well as the continued use of public-private partnerships by state and federal governments.

“Banks have been boosting their project finance teams in Australia to accommodate an upswing in activity, and Australian corporates and financial institutions are also expanding their Asian activity on the back of investment opportunities in the region,” Irvine said. “This will fuel an increasing need for support from law firms to provide top quality project lawyers with an understanding of both the domestic and international financing markets.”