K&L Gates has bolstered its energy, infrastructure and resources practice in Singapore with the hire of Brad Roach, a former co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s global oil and gas practice group, and senior associate Alexandra Jones.  

Roach joined K&L Gates in August, according to his LinkedIn bio, and has been based in Singapore for more than 25 years.

He brings extensive knowledge of the upstream oil and gas, LNG, power and downstream energy industries throughout Southeast Asia, K&L Gates said.  

He advises on the development and operation of power projects, asset and share sale and purchase agreements, joint ventures and shareholder agreements, joint operating agreements, and financing agreements, among other matters.  

In 2019 he and Jones advised Murphy Oil on the divestment of its Malaysian operations to PTTEP for $2.1bn – the largest upstream M&A transaction in Southeast Asia in the past nine years.

Last year the duo also acted for Chevron New Energies Holdings Indonesia on the negotiation of several agreements in connection with the Way Ratai geothermal working area in Lampung Province, Indonesia.

John Crossley, K&L Gates energy, infrastructure and resources practice area leader said Roach’s experience “will turbocharge the strategic growth of our energy practice across the Asia-Pacific region, which is going from strength to strength as we develop to meet the ever-changing global needs of the energy industry”.

Roach has spent the past 11 years at Gibson Dunn, before which he was a partner at Hogan Lovells and White & Case. Earlier he practised at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Freshfields.  

K&L Gates has made a string of hires this year in Singapore, where it operates as K&L Gates Straits Law.  

In July it recruited corporate partners David Kuo and Meraj Noor from DLA Piper, having hired finance partners Samuel Kolehmainen and Duc Nguyen from Herbert Smith Freehills and investment funds partner Jason Nelms from Morrison Foerster earlier in the year.  

The hires swell K&L Gates’ Singapore lawyer ranks to more than 50, according to its website.  

A Gibson Dunn spokesperson confirmed Roach's departure, adding: “We wish him well in his new role.”

In September, Law.com reported that Gibson Dunn was cutting four partners in Singapore, amounting to half its partnership in the city-state.