Clifford Chance Badea added 15 lawyers to its team in 2024, following the fastest rate of growth and recruitment in recent years

Clifford Chance Badea, the local office of global law firm Clifford Chance, has recruited 15 lawyers over the past year, reaching a team of more than 45 lawyers, amid a significant increase in Clifford Chance local projects and multi-jurisdictional mandates in which Bucharest office lawyers actively participate.

The fastest pace of recruitment in recent years consolidated the teams specialized in the most dynamic areas of practice - Renewable Energy, Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, and Litigation.

Daniel Badea, Managing Partner Clifford Chance Badea, says: „We thank the colleagues who trusted us and decided to begin or continue their careers within our Firm. We have secured a mix of experience and resources that provides clients the same quality and efficiency of service, amid an increasingly dynamic and complex business context. The Romanian legal market continues to grow along with the economy and is in constant dynamic.”

Clifford Chance Badea provides lawyers with the professional framework in which they can reach a career peak, with exposure to an international working environment and a global team spanning the most sophisticated markets and expertise. The lawyers work on innovative matters, some as first-of-their-kind on the Romanian market. At the same time, they benefit from secondment internships at global level and an advanced professional development platform, including training programs with international experts.

Daniel Badea adds: „Over the past years, we have been involved in – and in many cases have coordinated – multidisciplinary teams on very complex and professionally challenging multijurisdictional projects. We had colleagues working in Clifford Chance international offices but also in cities like Stockholm or Zurich, on highly complex cross-border projects covering almost all continents, like project finance transactions, investigations or securitizations. At the same time, we have successfully advised in some of the most representative deals for the Romanian market, with our lawyers getting direct exposure to the most sophisticated and demanding clients, from a junior level.”

The Bucharest office coordinates or advises on local projects of international scope, with the most recent transactions including:  

•    NEPI's green bonds issue - A multijurisdictional team of lawyers coordinated by Mădălina Rachieru-Postolache advised NEPI Rockcastle in connection with its latest green bonds issue worth EUR 500 million;

•    The sale of Enel România - A multijurisdictional team of lawyers coordinated by Nadia Badea and Loredana Ralea advised Enel Group in closing the approx. EUR 1.24 billion sale of its Romanian assets, equivalent to an enterprise value of around EUR 1.9 billion on a 100% basis, to Greek-based Public Power Corporation (PPC);

•    The Hidroelectrica IPO – A multijurisdictional team of Clifford Chance lawyers from the Bucharest, London and Frankfurt offices, coordinated by Mădălina Rachieru-Postolache, advised the arranger banks in connection with Hidroelectrica's historical listing, the largest IPO launched in Europe in 2023, with a total value of RON 9.3 billion;

•    Global securitization transactions – The Bucharest lawyers consistently advise global financial institutions, either as part of London teams or directly coordinating multijurisdictional (including US) teams, in relation to large securitization transactions and the issue of related financial instruments. The value of transactions concluded in the last year exceeds GBP 2.8 billion;

•    Renewable energy transactions - Nadia Badea, Loredana Ralea, Andreea Șișman and Mădălina Rachieru-Postolache advise investors or financing banks in most major renewable energy transactions in the market, both in solar and wind energy;

•    Financing on international markets - Teams of lawyers from the Bucharest office, coordinated by Cosmin Anghel, advise arrangers on most Eurobond deals in Romania, including sovereign Eurobonds issued by the Romanian state;

•    Investigations or class action litigation - Lawyers in Bucharest collaborate with other Clifford Chance offices and advise global clients in relation to major regulatory investigations and legal proceedings under English law. The lawyers were recently involved in a major investigation by foreign prosecutors into alleged fraudulent business activities and tax evasion, assisting with the review of key documents and preparation of compliance statements.

•   The sale of Alpha Bank – A multidisciplinary team coordinated by Daniel Badea and Loredana Ralea advised Alpha Bank Group and its Romanian subsidiary Alpha Bank Romania S.A. in closing the sale to Unicredit S.p.A. of 90,1% of the shares in Alpha Bank Romania S.A.;
 
•   The sale of First Bank - A mixed team of lawyers from the M&A and the Banking & Finance practices advised J.C. Flowers & Co. in the First Bank sale to Italian-based group Intesa, which marked the exit of the American private equity fund from Romania;

Clifford Chance Badea's activity is structured in three main practice areas - Corporate M&A (including Private Equity and M&A transactions, Real Estate, Energy, Antitrust, Healthcare, Technology), Banking, Finance & Capital Markets (including banking and capital market financing through shares and bonds issues, infrastructure project financing, securitization, regulatory) and Litigation (including commercial litigation, arbitration and white collar/strategic risk management).