Colin Johnson, who leads the Energy Community of Interest for Grant Thornton International, will speak during the opening session at BWEC2012.

Colin acts as an expert witness on international arbitrations and as a sector expert on energy related work across Grant Thornton and he leads the Energy Community of Interest for Grant Thornton International. He is also the Chairman of TheCityUK's Brazil and Latin America Committees.

Colin's career has focused principally on investment in the energy and infrastructure sector, often in emerging markets and from a private equity point of view. He first got involved in the power sector in 1990. A large part of his time has been spent living and working in Latin America but he also has extensive experience in India and has dealt with projects across five continents.

He has specific expertise in relation to the project investment cycle, particularly for large scale projects in the energy sector. He has acted on behalf of national governments, large corporate companies and entrepreneurs in international arbitrations and litigation ranging up to US$6bn in size. He has also acted in large scale investigations (eg the UK company for Madoff) on behalf of parties such as a regulatory agency and company liquidators including using his language capabilities to track down specific information and links not otherwise available.

Given his experience in the energy sector and geographic focus he has also been called upon to give advice for large international companies, private equity investors, pension funds and others in relation to due diligence, valuation, listing and strategy issues.

Colin was interviewed recently for the Grant Thornton International and Emerging Markets blog. One of the questions he was asked was:

What should companies be thinking about right now?

His answer is quoted below:

"I think all companies have got to be looking right now at emerging markets and particularly – as it hasn’t got so much attention so far – at Latin America.

Arguments such as ‘it’s too far’, ‘it’s the wrong language’ or ‘it’s all sewn up by others’ just don’t hold water. Sao Paulo is closer on time zone to London for half the year than it is to New York, and Brazil is closer culturally to the UK than any of the other BRIC markets – plus, both the Brazilian and UK governments are actively seeking more trade and investment between the two countries. There is also a real move across most of Latin America to build better links with Europe and with the UK in particular."

Grant Thornton International and Emerging Markets Blog Interview with Colin Johnson

TheCityUK Brazil and Latin American Committees