Allen & Overy (A&O) has signed an exclusive referral agreement with Paris boutique Santoni Paccioni et Associes to boost its restructuring capabilities in the French capital.
The agreement will see A&O will work on an exclusive basis with the restructuring and insolvency specialist on debt restructurings, corporate and fund buy-outs, insolvency related procedures and distressed debt situations in France.
A&O has worked with Santoni for a number of years, but until now the agreement was not exclusive. Recently the duo have worked together on the restructuring of Eurotunnel, chemical company Rhodia and power and transport company Alstom. In the private sector the pair have also cooperated on the restructurings of Photo Service and Securitas Protection Services.
Santoni was established 18 years ago by Marc Santoni, has three partners in total and 10 additional lawyers.
A&O has around 45 banking and finance lawyers in France, with five dedicated restructuring partners. It does not currently have any dedicated insolvency partners.
A&O Paris banking partner Rod Cork commented: “We very much enjoy and appreciate working with [partners] Marc Santoni, Bruno Paccioni and Bérangère Rivals and their team and look forward to pooling our resources and expertise on insolvency and restructuring matters.”
He added: “Recent changes in French insolvency legislation make the need for expert insolvency advice essential at an early stage in a transaction and Marc's team provide this.”