Martha Kammoun

Martha Kammoun is a partner in Simpson Thacher’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice in New York, where she advises private equity sponsors and lenders on acquisitions, investments and financings in the infrastructure sector, with a focus on renewables and the energy transition. Martha's experience includes advising on greenfield and brownfield project and portfolio acquisitions, equity investments and joint ventures, and debt and tax equity financings with respect to onshore and offshore wind, transmission, solar and storage assets, as well as renewable natural gas, carbon capture and sequestration, electric vehicle charging, and powering data centers. Former co-general counsel of a North American energy and infrastructure private equity fund, she also advises on general corporate and governance matters, including post-acquisition greening strategies for conventional gas assets and other strategic portfolio optimization.

Martha's recent work highlights include advising:

• Avnos, Inc. in its Series A financing round to develop novel Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC™) technology for carbon dioxide removal
• BlackRock Global Infrastructure and Capital Power Investments LLC in their joint purchase of Harquahala Generation Company, LLC
• Financing parties in several wind, solar and storage portfolio back-leveraged financings by NextEra Energy encompassing 26 projects with more than 3.6 GW of renewable energy and storage capacity across North America
• IFM Net Zero Infrastructure Fund of IFM Investors in its definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in GreenGasUSA Holdings LLC
• KKR in its agreement to acquire a non-controlling interest in the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 Project from Sempra Infrastructure

Martha’s work prior to joining Simpson Thacher includes advising:

• Equinor in several transactions, including its: $1.1 billion sale of a 50 percent interest in two US offshore wind development projects to BP, and formation of a partnership to develop and operate the Empire Wind project offshore New York and Beacon Wind project offshore Massachusetts, which together could generate up to 4.4 GW; purchase and sales agreements and conditional grant agreements with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in support of the 1,260 MW Empire Wind 2 and the 1,230 MW Beacon Wind projects
• A private equity sponsor in several transactions, including its: multiple portfolio acquisitions, Term Loan A and Term Loan B financings and refinancings, and partial sales of thermal generation assets aggregating more than 3 GW of power generation across the United States; the sale of a 660 MW transmission line connecting New York City and New Jersey, and the development of a 3.2 GW transmission line connecting California and Arizona; the acquisition, development, construction and tax equity financing, and sale of onshore wind assets in Texas and Ohio
• A private equity sponsor in the refinancing of credit facilities for a fixed based operations (FBO) servicer operating in 62 airports in the United States; the lenders in the acquisition financing of a technology-enabled worldwide provider of Unit Load Devices (ULD), cargo control and air freight products, and logistics services for the aviation industry; the winning consortium in a bid to rebuild and operate a major airport in New York
• SteelRiver Infrastructure Fund North America LP in its acquisitions of the natural gas distribution business of EQT Corporation and a leading operator of short line and regional railroads in 13 states of the United States
• Several international sponsors in connection with South Africa’s independent procurement program for 3,725 MW of electricity to be generated by renewable energy sources

A recognized leader in the market, Martha has written in, hosted, and been sought as a speaker at, some of the industry’s most significant publications, events and conferences on a broad range of topics including the state of the power markets, energy storage alternatives, carbon capture, offshore wind financing, infrastructure development and regulatory issues, energy policy, and clean fuel investment opportunities.

She is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University School of Law where she developed and teaches a course on private equity.

Fluent in both French and Arabic, Martha received her L.L.M. from Harvard Law School in 2002 and her L.L.B. from Saint-Joseph University in 2001. She received an Executive Masters in Energy Management in 2019 from the ESCP Business School. Martha is admitted to the Bar Association of the State of New York.