Italy

Within the firm’s multijurisdictional focus on providing holistic ESG expertise for commercial clients, Latham & Watkins LLP’s Milan office specialises in mandates concerning sustainability-linked transactions and finance. 

A key client is JP Morgan Chase, which sought the firm’s advice as the initial purchasers on electricity producer and distributor Enel Finance International’s green senior unsecured notes offering. The $3.5bn offering supports the decarbonisation of the Italian electricity industry by featuring an interest-rate adjustment tied to Enel’s reduction of direct greenhouse gas emissions. 

The team regularly advises clients transitioning to ecological practices within traditionally polluting industries, such as assisting Bain Capital with the €3bn sale of a stake in paper manufacturer Fedrigoni to investment firm BC Partners. The investment helps Fedrigoni, itself EcoVadis Platinum-certified and pursuing carbon neutrality through the Science Based Targets initiative, to improve its waste and water recovery, research increasingly sustainable materials, and support clients in their plastic-to-paper transition.

As a founding member of the pro bono initiative Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, the firm offers free legal services to sustainability-focused start-ups and non-profits. Within this multijurisdictional initiative, the firm’s Milan office provided corporate governance and regulatory framework advice for Recup, a project that recovers surplus food from local markets and provides it to those in need, minimising food waste.

A member of the Law Firm Sustainability Network, the firm measured the environmental impact of its operations and has implemented footprint-reducing goals across energy efficiency and consumption, electronic waste, and sustainable procurement. Working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the firm has become carbon neutral for its scopes 1 and 2 emissions through purchasing and retiring carbon credits, and is working to further reduce its carbon footprint through participation in the Science Based Targets initiative.

France

Latham & Watkins LLP’s Paris office plays a major role within the firm’s multijurisdictional, cross-practice ESG group, which provides advice across sustainable governance, the energy transition, sustainable finance, and environmental litigation.  

In a pioneering green financing matter, Thomas Margenet-Baudry advised industrial equipment leasing company Loxam regarding its €130m loan from the European Investment Bank. The loan, the first to be certified as an EIB Green Loan, will facilitate the electrification and greening of Loxam’s fleet, supporting the company’s decarbonising policy of replacing its existing fossil fuel-based equipment with low-carbon alternatives. 

Key Paris-based contacts within the firm’s ESG team include Roberto Reyes Gaskin, who provides expertise in energy and infrastructure projects, green bonds and sustainable finance, and ESG best practices; and Thomas Vogel, who has experience in renewable energy transactions, including in green hydrogen. The ESG practice provides cross-practice advice to members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a CEO-led collaboration between the world’s largest companies who together seek to accelerate the green transition and support sustainably operating businesses. It also co-developed the software tool ‘RiskHorizon’ to help industry-leading clients understand ESG risk and incorporate it into their traditional risk management processes. 

As a founding member of the pro bono initiative Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, which offers free legal services to sustainability-focused start-ups and non-profits, the firm’s Paris team assisted Plastic Odyssey, a research platform that develops and provides solutions to combat plastic pollution. 

The firm is also a member of the Science Based Targets initiative and the Law Firm Sustainability Network, and has measured the environmental impact of its own operations. It has implemented footprint-reducing goals across energy efficiency and consumption, electronic waste, and sustainable procurement.  

Spain

In Madrid, Latham & Watkins LLP has demonstrable experience handling transactions for innovative, eco-friendly companies.  

For Platinum Equity, the firm asssisted with the $4.2bn acquisition of environmental services business Urbaser from China Tianying, providing Urbaser capital to support investments in its waste-to-energy, sustainable urban services, and circular economy solutions divisions. 

The firm also advised The Carlyle Group on its acquisition of a majority stake in plywood producer Garnica Group, which is focused on preserving the ecological balance by working with wood from sustainable and renewable sources. 

As part of the firm’s multinational membership of the Law Firm Sustainability Network, the Madrid office has measured the environmental impact of its operations and implemented footprint-reducing goals across energy efficiency and consumption, electronic waste, and sustainable procurement. Working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the firm has become carbon neutral for its scopes 1 and 2 emissions through purchasing and retiring carbon credits, and is working to further reduce its carbon footprint through participation in the Science Based Targets Initiative.