James Leonard
Partner at Mercator International
Based in Seattle, Mr. Leonard has 34 years of experience in liner shipping, capital investment analysis, terminal planning, and marine engineering. He has conducted operational and financial evaluations of numerous marine terminals around the world, to support expansion, development, or acquisition initiatives.
Leonard has analyzed and evaluated marine terminal concession agreements and related port infrastructure investments in multiple continents, but with a focus on Latin America. He served as a Vice President for Ports with Macquarie Capital Funds Inc. and previously was a partner at Mercator Transport Group for five years.
He also served as Director of Network Planning and Director of Latin America Business Planning for Sea-Land Service, over a ten-year period. He spent the early part of his career as a naval architect and marine engineer with APL. In recent years, he has provided expert testimony in a number of international port concession arbitrations.
Mr. Leonard holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and master’s degrees in management and engineering from MIT.
Employment
- Vice President and Port Sector Specialist, Macquarie Capital Funds
- Founding Partner, Mercator Transport Group
- Director of Network Planning, Sea-Land Service
- Director of Development, Brazil, Sea-Land Service
- Manager of Operations Planning, Sea-Land Service
- Manager of Naval Architecture, American President Lines (APL)
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, the University of California at Berkeley
- Masters in management and engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“We aim to deliver great analysis and sharp insight. We do this by working with clients to first ask the right questions and then by fielding an experienced team that knows the transportation and infrastructure sectors, and we are not satisfied until our clients are satisfied.”