The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP handles complex and innovative work thanks to a team of highly versatile lawyers. The practice comprises six partners, including Jean-Marie Ambrosi, Marie-Laurence Tibi and Valérie Lemaitre, who principally act alongside large corporate clients, handling corporate structuring finance deals, such as assisting Accor on the financing of Edenred and Rexel in the negotiation of a €1.7bn credit agreement. The team also assisted Natixis on the financing of the acquisition of Natixis Private Equity French portfolio by Axa Private Equity.

Within Capital markets, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a first tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP ranks as ‘one of the top firms for ECM work’. Thanks to a versatile team that is always ‘very well aware of the latest innovations and entrenched within the local business community’, the firm handles both high-end equity and debt matters in French and US law, acting for large corporations and leading financial institutions. Key figures include Pierre-Yves Chabert, John Brinitzer, Marie-Laurence Tibi, Valérie Lemaître and Andrew Bernstein. The firm assisted Goldman Sachs, RBS and Natixis on Technicolor’s offerings, PPR and CFAO on CFAO’s IPO and the underwriters on Total’s $500m SEC-registered offering.

Within Dispute resolution Commercial litigation , Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP demonstrates ‘constant top-end service with a creative approach’. Led by Jean-Yves Garaud, a lawyer with ‘very high professional skills’, the practice represents leading corporations (ArcelorMittal, Sanofi-Aventis), with counsel Delphine Michot also active in the practice. The firm successfully acted for Aventis-Pharma before the Versailles Court of Appeal against Wyeth.

Within Dispute resolution International arbitration, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has a busy commercial and investment practice. The compact and strong team includes Claudia Annacker, whose reputation is growing in the field of investment and public international law, Jean-Yves Garaud and the up-and-coming Roland Ziadé, who was promoted to counsel. The firm advises state entities and large corporations (ArcelorMittal, Sanofi-Aventis). It also represented the Russian Federation in three UNCITRAL arbitrations against former shareholders of Yukos, and the Republic of Argentina in the first attempt to pursue a mass claim in an ICSID case.

Within Dispute resolution Stock market litigation Other recommended firms

Within Dispute resolution White-collar crime Other recommended firms

Within EU competition and distribution, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a second tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s practice is led by competition master Antoine Winckler and François Brunet. The ‘very reactive and reliable’ seven-lawyer team advises on the market’s largest merger-control cases at French and European levels, recently advising Veolia Environnement on the merger of Veolia Transport with Transdev. The firm also handles a high amount of strategic antitrust work, recently obtaining the annulment of the fine imposed on Estée Lauder in the perfume and cosmetics sector.

Within Insolvency, tier 4

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a good choice for highly technical financial and corporate restructuring work through Fabrice Baumgartner and François Jonemann. Jean-Yves Garaud is also heavily involved in the practice on the litigation side. The firm has outstanding capabilities to deal with global restructuring projects, such as in Nortel. The team advised on a number of strategic matters on the domestic and European markets, representing shareholder Arcapita on Vogica’s restructuring.

Within Mergers and acquisitions, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a second tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is an ‘outstanding’ firm for high-profile and complex M&A transactions which are handled by ‘very technical lawyers’. The team includes some of the market’s most respected corporate advisors in the ‘very commercial’ Pierre-Yves Chabert, John Brinitzer, François Jonemann, Jean-Marie Ambrosi and Andrew Bernstein. The firm assisted Veolia on Veolia Transport and Transdev’s merger, and Accor on its spinoff.

Within Private equity, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a second tier firm,

In Jean-Marie Ambrosi and François Jonemann, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has a ‘very technical team’. The firm completed several major transactions in 2010, assisting BC Partners on the sale of Picard to Lion Capital, and Natixis on the sale of its private equity portfolio.

Within Project finance and energy: Energy Project finance and energy: Energy

Within Project finance and energy: Project finance, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a second tier firm,

Thanks to its experience in the region, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP receives high-profile instructions in Africa. The 13-lawyer practice, led by Jean-Pierre Vignaud, Barthélemy Faye and Gamal Abouali, assists sponsors on oil and gas, electricity, water, transport and mining projects. The team assisted Rio Tinto on a strategic project in Cameroon involving bauxite mining and the construction of a hydroelectric dam and transport facilities, and the Government of Gabon and the Islamic Development Bank on Libreville airport project. In the energy field, the firm advised the Gambia River Basin Organisation on a $1bn hydroelectric project.

Within Tax, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s transactional expertise is highly regarded thanks to France’s leading corporate tax lawyer Gilles Entraygues, and partner Anne-Sophie Coustel. Arnaud de Brosses left the firm. The practice handles top M&A, capital markets, finance and restructuring tax work, acting for the largest French and international companies (Alstom, Coca-Cola, Lagardère). The team assisted Accor and Edenred on the spin-off of Accor’s services business, and Veolia on the merger of Veolia Transport and Transdev.