IFLR is delighted to present its shortlist for the 2021 IFLR Europe Awards.
All deal, team, national and international firm of the year finalists are listed below. The IFLR editorial team carefully selected each finalist after months of research, interviews, analysis and deliberation. We hope they inspire.
Winners will be announced on April 29 2021.
Throughout the research IFLR kept its focus on legal innovation in cross-border deal-making. The shortlist reflects hard work and ingenuity, and seeks to showcase transactions that broke new legal ground and set new legal high-water marks in the region.
Judging decisions were based exclusively on legal innovation in multi-jurisdictional transactions. We have disregarded deal values, client prestige and press coverage and other such aspects as much as possible.
All the shortlisted deals closed during the awards review period, which was from January 1 2020 to December 31 2020. The awards does not recognise announced or ongoing deals.
The shortlist is based on our own preliminary research, including direct written nominations and conversations with law firms, in-house teams and clients. If your team advised on one of these deals but is not listed, please contact James Wilson: james.wilson@legalmediagroup.com
IFLR will be revealing the winners on April 29 via a virtual awards presentation, followed up with writes ups and analysis of all the most significant work. To find out more - and to find out about how you can promote your success - please contact Liam Sharkey: lsharkey@iflr.com
DEALS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
Federal Republic of Germany green bond
White & Case
Galaxy Pipeline Assets Bidco
Al Tamimi & Company
Clifford Chance
London Borough of Sutton
Clifford Chance
Simmons & Simmons
Nordic Investment Bank Covid-19 bond
Clifford Chance
Novartis sustainability-linked bond
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
Rolls-Royce
Schneider Electric sustainability-linked convertible bond
Linklaters
White & Case
Equity
Allegro IPO
Clifford Chance
Greenberg Traurig
Fusion Fuel Green IPO
Arnold & Porter
Feinberg Hanson
Graubard Miller
GVS IPO
Clifford Chance
White & Case
Hensoldt IPO
Bredin Prat
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hengeler Mueller
Linklaters
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Taylor Wessing
JDE Peets IPO
Clifford Chance
Linklaters
Jumia Technologies capital increase
Sullivan & Cromwell
Ryanair Holdings equity raise
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Proskauer
The Hut Group IPO
Clifford Chance
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
High yield
Altice France
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Mayer Brown
Nabarro & Hinge
Ropes & Gray
Aston Martin
Appleby
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Banijay
Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier
Hogan Lovells
Kirkland & Ellis
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
White & Case
doValue
Clifford Chance
Hogan Lovells
Milbank
Tremonti Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati
White & Case
KCA Deutag
Burness Paull
CMS-CMNO
FahadLaw
Linklaters
Schjødt
Weil Gotshal & Manges
SYNLAB refinancing and debt extension
Clifford Chance
CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwälte
Shearman & Sterling
White & Case
Sofima
Legance Avvocati Associati
Milbank
Tremonti Romagnoli Piccardi e Associati
White & Case
ThyssenKrupp Elevators
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
McCarthy Tetrault
Reed Smith
Virgin Media/O2
Ropes & Gray
Loan
British American Tobacco RFR facility
Herbert Smith Freehills
Cobham acquisition financing
Kieyr Grasson
Linklaters
Loyens & Loeff
Norton Rose Fulbright
Paul Hastings
Weil Gotshal & Manges
White & Case
EQT subscription line facility
Ashurst
Debevoise & Plimpton
Firmenich acquisition financing
Baker McKenzie
Bredin Prat
Moonfall
Goodman Schenkman & Brecheen
Miller Thompson
Paul Hastings
Wiggin
Tesco RFR facility
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
ThyssenKrupp acquisition financing
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Loyens & Loeff
VTTI
Al Tamimi & Company
KAAP
Linklaters
Rahmat Lim & Partners
Shearman & Sterling
Stephenson Harwood
M&A
AbbVie / Allergan
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
Kirkland & Ellis
Slaughter and May
Weil Gotshal & Manges
BASF and Domo Chemicals / Solvay’s polyamide business
Bredin Prat
DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
LPA-CGR
Fortiana / Highland Gold Mining
Herbert Smith Freehills
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Global Blue - Far Point
Baker Hostetler
Gomez-Acebo & Pombo
Grimaldi Studio Legale
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
MinterEllison
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Hitachi / ABB Power Grids
Baker McKenzie
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Karatzas & Partners
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Just Eat / Takeaway.com
Linklaters
Slaughter and May
Mitsubishi Corporation and Chubu Electrics / Eneco
Clifford Chance
SAZKA / Casinos Austria (CASAG)
CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz
Eisenburger Herzog
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Grohs Hofer
Schuppich Sporn & Winischhofer
Schima Mayer Starlinger
Private equity
Advent, Cinven and RAG foundation / Thyssenkrupp Elevator business
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Antin / Hippocrates
BonelliErede
Cornelli Gabelli
Nctm
White & Case
BC Partners / Sofima
Poggi & Associati
White & Case
Blackstone / NIBC
Clifford Chance
Slaughter and May
EQT / Idealista
Baker McKenzie
Dentons
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Paul Hastings
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
KKR / Coty and Wella
Baker McKenzie
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
KKR / Viridor
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Project finance
Contego battery storage project
Bracewell
Covington & Burling
Dogger Bank offshore wind farm
Linklaters
Norton Rose Fulbright
Fécamp offshore wind farm
BCTG Avocats
Clifford Chance
Jeantet
Linklaters
Hohe See and Albatros offshore wind farm
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Masrik Solar PV plant
Bracewell
Clifford Chance
Northvolt
Milbank
Wistrand
Sorek B Seawater Desalination facility
Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co
Gornizky & Co
Lipa Meir & Co
Yehuda Raveh & Co
Windpark Zeewolde
Clifford Chance
Norton Rose Fulbright
Restructuring
Codere
Allende & Brea
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Cuatrecasas
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Gattai Minoli Agostinelli & Partners
Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
Jenner & Block
Machado Meyer Sendacz e Opice Advogados
Milbank
Posadas Posadas & Vecino
Posse Herrera Ruiz
Proskauer Rose
EuropaCorp
De Gaulle Fleurance & Associés
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Nordic Aviation Capital DAC
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Clifford Chance
Linklaters
Milbank
Watson Farley & Williams
Stockmann
White & Case
Swissport
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Hogan Lovells
Jones Day
McDermott Will & Emery
Proskauer Rose
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Sullivan & Cromwell
White & Case
Technicolor
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
Dechert
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Hogan Lovells
Jackson Walker
Kirkland & Ellis
Lavery De Billy
PwC
Santoni
Selafa Mandataires Judiciaires Associés
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Virgin Atlantic
Ashurst
Clifford Chance
CMS
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills
Kirkland & Ellis
Norton Rose Fulbright
Sidley Austin
Watson Farley & Williams
Structured finance and securitisation
AMCO - Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena NPE securitisation
BonelliErede
Clifford Chance
Blackstone pan-European CMBS
Mayer Brown
Norton Rose Fulbright
Coventry Building Society Master Issuer Programme
Clifford Chance
Dentons
MUFG ESG CLO
Baker McKenzie
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
Clifford Chance
Olympic/Avis Hellas auto lease receivables securitisation
Hogan Lovells
Norton Rose Fulbright
White & Case
Zepos & Yannopoulos
Public Power Corporation securitisation
DLA Piper
Milbank
Sardelas Petsa Law Firm
Tagus RMBS Green Belém 1
DLA Piper
TEAMS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Linklaters
Mayer Brown
White & Case
Equity
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Latham & Watkins
Linklaters
Sullivan & Cromwell
White & Case
High yield
Clifford Chance
Kirkland & Ellis
Milbank
Ropes & Gray
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
White & Case
Loan
Debevoise & Plimpton
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills
Linklaters
Paul Hastings
Shearman & Sterling
White & Case
M&A
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Linklaters
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
Slaughter and May
Private equity
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Kirkland & Ellis
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
White & Case
Project finance
Bracewell
Clifford Chance
Covington & Burling
Linklaters
Milbank
Norton Rose Fulbright
Restructuring
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Milbank
White & Case
Structured finance and securitisation
Ashurst
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
Clifford Chance
Mayer Brown
Paul Hastings
White & Case
Financial services regulatory
Clifford Chance
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Shearman & Sterling
Simmons & Simmons
Travers Smith
LAW FIRMS OF THE YEAR
US law firm of the year
Baker McKenzie
Kirkland & Ellis
Milbank
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
White & Case
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
International law firm of the year
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kirkland & Ellis
Linklaters
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
White & Case
IN-HOUSE TEAMS OF THE YEAR
In-house debt
Bank of America
Barclays
BNP Paribas
Goldman Sachs
HSBC
JP Morgan
Société Générale
UBS
In-house equity
Bank of America
Barclays
Citi
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley
JP Morgan
NATIONAL FIRMS OF THE YEAR
Austria
Eisenberger & Herzog
Baltics
Cobalt
Ellex
Sorainen
Belgium
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Eubelius
Linklaters
Bulgaria
Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov
Kinstellar
Czech Republic
Clifford Chance
Dentons
White & Case
Denmark
Horten
Plesner
Finland
White & Case
France
Bredin Prat
Clifford Chance
De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Germany
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Hengeler Mueller
Linklaters
Noerr
White & Case
Greece
Koutalidis Law Firm
Zepos & Yannopoulos
Hungary
Dentons
Hegymegi-Barakonyi Baker McKenzie
Lakatos Koves and Partners
Lengyel Allen & Overy
Ireland
Israel
Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co
Gornitzky & Co
Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co
Italy
BonelliErede
Chiomenti
Clifford Chance
Gianni & Origoni
White & Case
Luxembourg
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
GSK Stockmann
Loyens & Loeff
Netherlands
Clifford Chance
Linklaters
Norway
Schjødt
Poland
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak
White & Case
Portugal
Linklaters
Morais Leitão Galvão Teles Soares da Silva & Associados
Uría Menéndez-Proença de Carvalho
Romania
Clifford Chance Badea
Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA
Russia
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Clifford Chance
Herbert Smith Freehills
White & Case
Spain
Allen & Overy
Clifford Chance
Cuatrecasas
Gómez Acebo & Pombo
Sweden
Linklaters
Switzerland
Baker McKenzie
Turkey
Bezen & Partners
Esin Attorney Partnership, a member of Baker McKenzie International
Gedik & Eraksoy
GKC Partners
Ukraine
Baker McKenzie
Dentons
Sayenko Kharenko
