Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is a top name for LBO and private equity acquisition finance work and is regularly entrusted by leading private equity funds and debt funds for advice in this area. The firm regularly advises on mid- to large-cap deals, while also providing advice on loan facilities and refinancing matters. The firm also handles work for corporations and occasionally for banks. Practice head Paul Lombard and Thomas Binet are the names to note for acquisition finance, with Igor Kukhta also a key practitioner.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Strong commercial sense. Very good technical skills and mastery of subjects. Great proactivity.’
‘Very good team which has a lot of internal resources and has always responded with quality work and respect for deadlines. The team is best-in class on the French LBO financing market.’
‘Paul Lombard: his experience, his technical competence and his commercial and consensual character make him one of the best lawyers on the French market. ’
‘Very available, responsive and professional team. Very good support.’
‘Paul Lombard, Ralph Unger and Martin Jouvenot all demonstrate great intellectual qualities, rigor and pedagogy.’
‘Excellent team. Professionalism, strong commitment and responsiveness. Great capacity to adapt on financing (banking, unitranche, others).’
- ‘Thomas Binet and Paul Lombard are exceptional in negotiating financing documentation. In addition to a perfect understanding of all the issues, they are keen to explain the key points and greatly facilitate the sponsor's decision-making. Their legal expertise allows them to be completely autonomous, and their extensive experience allows them to only raise the points necessary for the client's arbitration. They provide substantial assistance, perfectly understand the clients' issues, and defend them to the top. Very high quality service with impeccable commitment from Thomas and Paul.’
‘Thomas Binet has always demonstrated great professionalism as well as a lot of responsiveness and pragmatism. Whether in banking or unitranche deals, Thomas was able to guide us as best as possible during the negotiations of the legal documentation, always with the same objective: obtaining a deal, and this under the best conditions for his client.’
Key clients
- Ardian
- Astorg
- Barings
- BlackRock Private Debt
- Bluegem
- BNP Paribas
- CACIB
- CVC
- Eurazeo
- Five Arrows
- GSquare
- H.I.G. Whitehorse
- IK Partners
- Latour Capital
- Macquarie Capital
- Montefiore
- Motion Equity Partners
- PAI Partners
- Pemberton
- Tikehau
Work highlights
- Advising a syndicate of lenders on a three-year amend-and-extend of 1L and 2L term loans.
- Advising Céréa Partners on the financing acquisition of Novepan.
- Advising Motion Equity Partners on the financing of the acquisition of Tournaire.
Lawyers
Leading individuals
Next Generation Partners
Thomas Binet is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department, focusing on banking and finance. Mr. Binet has extensive experience in the areas of structured finance, debt restructuring and corporate finance. He regularly acts as counsel to lenders, borrowers, sponsors, senior, mezzanine and unitranche arrangers for such financing activities.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Paul Lombard