By way of background, I joined Ivanhoé Cambridge (IC), the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), four years ago to head the European legal affairs of the group.  Prior to this, I was a Paris bar lawyer practicing first at Sullivan & Cromwell and then at Latham & Watkins for about 12 years, specializing in strategic M&A, capital market transactions, and corporate governance matters.  In this position, I was recognized rising star by Legal 500. 

I speak 5 languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Turkish) which prove to be added value in my work and grew up in Türkiye and Switzerland in multicultural environments.  I read economics at the University of London (BSc Economics) and political philosophy in Argentina before completing my legal education in German at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and with the Magistère/Juriste d’affaires DJCE (in-house counsel qualification) at the University of Paris II.  I also recently completed an Executive MBA at HEC.  I am passionate about geopolitics, gastronomy and the arts, and like spending time at the theatre and the opera with friends and family.  

Today, I supervise the legal affairs of the real estate portfolio for CDPQ in Europe.  Investments are made alongside strategic partners and major real estate funds across various asset classes through a diversified range of investment types.  As of December 31, 2023, it represented C$13 billion in real estate assets in Europe (primarily in the industrial and logistics, office, residential, and retail sectors) held through various means, including listed companies (such as Gecina), discretionary funds, management companies, joint ventures, and private equity investments.  

While at IC, I have completed with the team around C$10 billion of transactions (e.g., structuring a develop-to-core logistics venture for £750 million of investment capacity, conducting the implementation of a joint venture with Allianz in relation to the redevelopment of Stonecutter Court in London, piloting an investment in a fully integrated co-living platform). 

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience? 

In Europe, inflationary pressures and the resulting high interest rates have led to record-low transaction volumes in the real estate market over the past 18 months. Additionally, at the beginning of 2024, CDPQ announced the full integration of its real estate subsidiaries, while the strategic plan for the real estate portfolio needed to be implemented.

In times of uncertainty, I have focused the legal affairs strategy around four key missions to ensure the organisation’s resilience. First, I have worked on structuring and securing contractual relationships, ensuring the creation of state-of-the-art legal documentation (such as using AI to generate lease agreements), which creates value for our investments. Second, I have focused on coordinating, creating, and optimising relationships both within the firm and externally, such as by implementing a steering committee to address legal aspects of sustainability practices or establishing strong partnerships with key external legal advisers.

Third, I have advised senior management, anticipated challenges, and defended the interests of IC. This has involved proposing and implementing innovative legal tools to structure incentives with the aim of aligning interests across the business. Finally, I have played a key role in guiding and implementing the broader business strategy, including through the preparation, monitoring, and execution of strategic disposals.

More generally, legal affairs have served as a centre of creativity in defending the organisation’s interests while enabling the execution of the strategic plan. For example, the sale of a French logistics portfolio by Ivanhoé Cambridge to KKR in October 2023, which included five buildings with a total area exceeding 160,000 square metres, was a significant transaction completed despite challenging market conditions. This deal, along with others completed in Europe, demonstrated the ability of the legal affairs team to navigate complex negotiations, find sound solutions, and close transactions effectively, even in a sluggish market.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices with the company?  

At Ivanhoé Cambridge, sustainable investment is not just a priority, but a fundamental part of our vision and mission. We firmly believe that, over the long term, sustainable investments are the most profitable investments. Sustainability criteria are integrated into every stage of the investment process, from strategy and governance approval to acquisition, development, asset management, and ultimately, disposition.

The role of the legal affairs team is essential in this context, working closely with the dedicated sustainable investment team daily. The legal department monitors relevant regulations and their application, for instance, by developing IT tools to track the impact of regulations like the CSRD on our subsidiaries and investments. We also organise training for operational teams, using concrete examples from previous successful investments (such as those related to SFDR). The team provides insights into best practices from around the world and ensures that the legal framework is adhered to. During the execution phase, the legal affairs team plays a key role in structuring contractual arrangements that align the interests of all parties towards best-in-class sustainable practices.

In addition, we have established a specific library of internal precedents for contractual clauses relating to sustainable practices. We continue to collaborate with the sustainable investment team to develop internal templates that guide and incentivise our partners to follow our sustainability convictions.

Today, sustainability practices permeate all areas of the business at Ivanhoé Cambridge. Awareness and knowledge of these practices within legal affairs cannot be confined to a few specialists or champions but must be shared across the entire team. To achieve this, I have divided sustainability practices into several workstreams and coordinated the appointment of one legal affairs representative and one from the sustainable investment team to ensure team cohesion, promote best practices, encourage new ideas, and ensure adherence to our core sustainability principles.