220. Deal Trends for M&A and Energy Financing - Mar26

Six years after her last appearance on the podcast (Episode 28, 15 June 2020), Natasha Luther-Jones  returns to join Laurent and Gerard for a lively catch-up on how both her career and the energy sector have evolved. What began with her being dubbed the “Queen of PPA” has expanded into a far broader role — prompting the hosts to crown her the “Energy Empress” as she now operates across the full spectrum of global energy and infrastructure.  Natasha reflects on the evolution as the Global co-chair in the Energy & Natural Resources practice at DLA Piper, describing how client demand has shifted from single-asset transactions to complex, multi-technology, cross-border platforms. The market has matured significantly, with renewables now firmly established as mainstream infrastructure and capital becoming more disciplined and selective.  A major growth area is battery energy storage systems (BESS), which have moved from being an adjunct to renewables to a core investment thesis in their own right. Storage, hybridisation and co-location strategies are reshaping project design, while revenue stacking and merchant exposure are demanding more sophisticated structuring and risk management.  On the M&A front, Natasha highlights sustained deal activity and strong valuations for scaled platforms and development pipelines. The market is firmly in a consolidation phase, with investors prioritising portfolio and platform transactions over single-asset deals. Innovative financing models, including holdco structures and cross-collateralisation across diversified portfolios, are increasingly replacing traditional asset-by-asset project finance.  The conversation also turns to the accelerating demand from AI-driven datacentres and the growing integration of digital infrastructure within energy complexes. As power demand surges, particularly for firm and clean energy, the convergence of energy and technology is creating new investment models and strategic partnerships — signalling that the next chapter of the energy transition will be defined as much by integration and capital structuring as by capacity build-out.