Cliff W. Vrielink

CLIFF VRIELINK has over 30 years of experience advising private equity, infrastructure, and other financial investors, public companies, and private companies actively engaging or investing in the infrastructure and energy industries. He represents clients throughout North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe with respect to their interests in the oil and gas, power, telecommunications, waste and water, and other infrastructure sectors.

Cliff has deep experience in the growing range of traditional and emerging infrastructure sectors, including telecommunications, digital and data, water, waste, logistics, and transportation. He also has decades of experience spanning the energy spectrum, from the upstream oil and gas sector (onshore, offshore, and international) to the midstream sector (natural gas, crude oil, liquids and CO2 pipelines processing facilities, and gas and liquids storage assets) to the downstream sector (refining, marketing, and distribution), as well as spanning power generation, oilfield service, and energy trading. Cliff provides clients with essential guidance on their approach to the energy transition.

Cliff is a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee and is the global leader of the Energy, Transportation and Infrastructure practice. He also is a member of the firm’s M&A and Private Equity practices.

Recent representative matters include:

• Represented InfraBridge in its sale of its 50% stake in Invenergy AMPCI Thermal Power to ArcLight Capital Partners.
• Represented oil and gas operator Presidio Investment Holdings in its estimated US$660 million business combination with EQV Ventures Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: EQV), a special purpose acquisition company, to form Presidio Production Company.
• Represented Cenovus in the US$1.4 billion sale of its interest in WRB Refining.
• Represented GIC, OMERS Infrastructure, and Wren House in their purchase of Direct ChassisLink, Inc. (DCLI), from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management and EQT. DCLI is one of the largest chassis lessors in the U.S. with over 151,000 marine and 100,000 domestic chassis in its fleet, operating out of strategic locations across key port and rail terminals in the U.S.
• Represented Enbridge, Inc., in its transaction with Encap Flatrock Midstream to acquire Moda Midstream Operating, LLC, including North America’s largest crude export terminal, for US$3 billion in cash.

Strong leadership in advising clients has earned Cliff acknowledgment in numerous industry publications. He is currently ranked in Chambers Global as a leading lawyer in Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) — USA (2022–2026), as well as in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional)—Nationwide (2021–2026), Corporate/M&A — Texas (2017–2026), and Private Equity: Buyouts — Texas (2021–2026). Additionally, Cliff has been recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Energy Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, and Mergers and Acquisitions Law. He has been showcased in Euromoney’s 2018 Energy and Environment Expert Guide, and recognized in Oil & Gas Investor, Midstream Business, and E&P Magazine. He has also been featured in The Oil and Gas Investor, Midstream Business, Houston Business Journal, The Oil & Gas Journal, and other publications for his thought leadership.

Cliff’s extensive experience in assisting clients also includes the following representative matters:

• Representing Wren House in its acquisition of a stake in SeaCube Containers.
• Represented Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (MIP) in its acquisition of 100% of the equity interests of RailUSA, LLC, an independent U.S. holding company that operates the 430-mile Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad in Florida and the 228-mile Grenada Railroad in Mississippi and Tennessee.
• Represented an affiliate of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in its investments in Lineage Logistics, the largest cold storage warehousing and logistics company and the largest automated cold storage company globally.
• Counsel to DigitalBridge Investment Management in the launch of the Xenith IG fiber platform in Asia. Xenith IG was jointly formed by DigitalBridge’s investment management arm and funds affiliated with Columbia Capital.
• Represented Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners in connection with its investment in its partnership with American Tower in CoreSite, a leading data center platform.
• Represented Partners Group in connection with its investment in the Seabras-1 fiber optic telecommunications cable between the U.S. and Brazil. This is the first direct fiber optic cable between New York and São Paulo and is logged as the first project finance deal for a subsea cable project backed by an export credit agency. This deal was recognized as a 2016 “Deal of the Year” by Latin Finance.
• Represented Key Capture Energy, LLC, a developer of large-scale energy storage projects, in an agreement to be acquired by SK E&S Co., Ltd.
• Represented Partners Group in its acquisition of a 25% interest in the Sentinel Energy Project, a 800-MW natural gas-powered electric generation facility in the Los Angeles Basin area of California.
• Represented an international energy company in its US$400 million acquisition of hydro and thermal generation assets in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, and Peru.
• Represented the seller in the sale of its energy trading business to a leading financial institution for US$1.1 billion.
• Represented West Street Infrastructure Partners III, an investment fund managed by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, in its acquisition of Synagro Technologies, Inc., a provider of wastewater biosolids solutions, from EQT Infrastructure.
• Represented Crescent Pass Energy in the sale of oil and gas assets to EOG Resources, Inc. with a sale price of US$180 million.
• Represented a sovereign wealth fund as co-investor in conjunction with other investors collectively making US$1.3 billion in equity commitments to a deepwater oil and gas exploration company.
• Represented Durango Midstream, a portfolio company of private equity funds managed by Morgan Stanley, in connection with the sale of its New Mexico Permian Basin gas gathering and processing business for US$765 million (combination of cash and stock in Kinetik (NYSE: KNTK)).
• Represented DCP Midstream in connection with the US$3.8 billion acquisition of its public units by Phillips 66.
• Represented OMERS Infrastructure Management, Inc. in its acquisition of a 50% interest in the BridgeTex crude oil pipeline for approximately US$1.4 billion from, and its formation of a three-way joint venture for BridgeTex with, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., recognized as the “Best Oil & Gas Acquisition” by the 2019 IJ Investor Awards.

• Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Executive Leadership Program Certification, 2024