Solicitor Trainee

Norton Rose Fulbright strengthens Italian finance offering with Marina Balzano and team. Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has strengthened its Italian banking and finance offering with the appointment of leveraged finance partner Marina Balzano in Milan, who joins on 16 October alongside four members of her team. Marina has nearly two decades of experience advising banks, private debt funds and other financial institutions on leveraged finance, acquisition finance, corporate lending and private credit transactions. She joins from Orrick, where she led the Italian leveraged finance practice, and has built a strong reputation for advising on complex domestic and cross-border financings. The team moving with Marina includes Giulio Asquini, Filippo Nola, Claudia Loriggio and Elisa Zaccaria. Marina's arrival reflects Norton Rose Fulbright's continued investment in its global banking and finance platform and its commitment to the evolving private capital and private credit markets. Her practice is focused primarily on lender-side mandates, advising leading Italian banking institutions as well as domestic and international private debt funds. She has developed a strong private capital-focused practice and has extensive experience supporting clients on sophisticated financing structures involving international lenders, sponsors and Italian assets. Working as part of an integrated team across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, Marina and her colleagues will support clients on domestic and cross-border financings, drawing on the firm's deep experience across leveraged finance, acquisition finance, infrastructure finance, fund finance and private credit. Attilio Pavone, Head of Italy at Norton Rose Fulbright, said: "Marina is one of the leading leveraged finance lawyers in the Italian market and her arrival represents an important step in the continued growth of its banking and finance practice in Italy and across Europe. "As capital markets continue to diversify and alternative lenders play an increasingly significant role in financing transactions, we are focused on building a seamless regional offering that connects clients, capital and opportunities across the EMEAPAC region. The addition of Marina and her team is an important step in that strategy and further bolsters our capability to support clients wherever they operate." Arturo Sferruzza, Head of the Italian Banking practice at Norton Rose Fulbright, commented: "Private credit continues to reshape the global financing landscape and Italy remains a market with significant growth potential. Marina brings a wealth of experience, commercial perspective and market insight that will further enhance our offering and deliver real value for clients." Marina Balzano said: "I am excited to be joining Norton Rose Fulbright at a time when private capital is playing an increasingly important role in financing transactions across Europe. The firm's global reputation in banking, finance and private capital, combined with its strength in key financial centres, provides an outstanding platform for the next stage of my practice. "I look forward to working closely with colleagues across the international network to help clients navigate complex financing transactions and to further develop a market-leading leveraged finance and private credit offering in Italy." Marina's appointment continues Norton Rose Fulbright's investment in its European banking and finance platform, following the appointments during 2026 of partners Samir Bensaker (Paris and London), Kathrin Marchant (Frankfurt), Fredrik Lindblom (London), Diane Le Chevallier (Paris), Victoria Morton (London) and Mike Niekoop (Amsterdam). Norton Rose Fulbright's global acquisition finance and corporate lending team advises banks, debt providers, financial advisers, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers on all aspects of acquisition finance, including sponsor-led leveraged buyouts, corporate acquisitions, bid financings, investment grade financings, restructurings and other complex financing transactions. The team combines strong market knowledge, commercial insight and extensive experience across the full lifecycle of large-cap and mid-market deals. For further information please contact: James Grice, PR Manager Practice areas: Contacts. Head of Italy

Norton Rose Fulbright earns four LatinFinance 2026 project finance awards. Norton Rose Fulbright has won four awards at LatinFinance's 2026 Project and Infrastructure Finance Awards for its work on major transactions across Latin America, spanning biofuels, critical minerals, mining and sovereign green financing in Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador. The recognized projects, which included teams led out of the firm's São Paulo, London and Washington, DC offices, include: Loan of the Year: Rincón lithium brine project. The firm represented a group of international lenders in a US$1.175 billion financing package supporting the development of Rio Tinto's Rincón lithium brine project in Salta Province, Argentina. With an estimated total investment of US$2.5 billion, the project is expected to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually once operational. Mining Deal of the Year: Serra Verde rare earth mine financing. The firm acted as English and Canadian counsel on the US$565 million rare earth mine financing for Serra Verde, provided by the US International Development Finance Corporation. The transaction refinanced existing loan facilities on more favorable terms and supports the expansion and optimization of the company's Brazilian operations, with production expected to increase to 6,500 tonnes of total rare earth oxide by the end of 2027. Infrastructure deal of the year, Brazil: Acelen Industrial S.A. biofuels complex. The firm advised Acelen Industrial S.A. on project development aspects of a biofuels complex in Bahia, Brazil, that will produce renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, including the equipment procurement agreement and guarantee agreement with UOP LLC and certain components of the broader US$1.5 billion financing package involving development banks, commercial lenders and local debentures. Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year: The Republic of Ecuador sovereign social and green financing. The firm represented the Inter-American Development Bank in connection with the issuance of a US$250 million partial credit guarantee supporting a US$500 million syndicated term loan facility to the Republic of Ecuador for the financing of eligible social and green projects under the Republic's Sovereign Financing Framework for Affordable and Resilient Housing. The New York law-governed transaction was structured to comply with the Social Loan Principles and Green Loan Principles, with Goldman Sachs and Banco Santander acting as lenders. Honorable mention - Pernambuco water and wastewater concession project. The firm received an honorable mention for its role as New York counsel to the BRK Ambiental/Acciona joint venture, as borrower, and its sponsors in connection with the financing of Lot 2 of the Pernambuco water and wastewater concession project. The transaction included a US$369 million senior secured term loan facility and a US$411 million blue bond debenture issuance. Norton Rose Fulbright's projects practice is one of the largest in the world, with more than 350 lawyers collaborating across a global team on some of today's most innovative, complex and challenging matters. The firm is ranked as a top global projects legal advisor by volume, with deals valued at more than US$90 billion in aggregate last year (IJGlobal, Q1-Q4, 2025). Practice areas: Industries:

Norton Rose Fulbright steers Osaka Gas' LNG project buy. 30 September 2026 Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Osaka Gas on acquiring a 5% interest in the Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the northwest coast of Western Australia. The deal value was not disclosed, but Reuters reported that Osaka Gas is acquiring the stake from BP, the UK-based oil and gas company. The investment will be made through Osaka Gas Browse, a company jointly owned by Osaka Gas Australia, an Osaka Gas subsidiary, and the state-backed Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security. Norton Rose Fulbright advised Osaka Gas Australia on the full scope of the transaction, including the acquisition documents, investment structuring, and regulatory and environmental matters related to the project. Partner Martin Irwin led the Norton Rose Fulbright team, with support from partners Troy McKelvie, Claire Forster, Marc Waha and Jacqueline Plant, special counsel Jennifer Meek, Julieane Materu, Zoe Lonard and Sonia Chee, as well as associates Suwen Fang, Malinthi Mallawa and Charlotte Batten. The transaction marks a major step in the development of the Browse project, which includes the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa offshore gas fields. Osaka Gas said the project could produce about 11 million tonnes per year of LNG on plateau, using existing infrastructure from the North West Shelf Project in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The North West Shelf Project has supplied natural gas to Australian and international customers for 40 years. Established in 1897, Osaka Gas supplies gas to Japan's Kansai region. It formed Osaka Gas Australia in 2000 and has been investing in Australian natural gas projects for more than 25 years.