Energies Nouvelles

Jean-Pierre Martel Partner

Paris

He is called on by boards and management teams to advise on mergers, divestitures, corporate acquisitions and restructurings as well as litigations and arbitrations. He is the founding partner of the premier French boutique Rambaud Martel, which combined with Orrick’s global platform in 2006.

Jean-Pierre has recently had a hand in the most significant cross-border deals in the French market. His work includes advising the board of Alstom on the $17 billion sale of its power units to General Electric, counseling L’Oréal on buying back 8% of its own capital from Nestlé, associated with the sale of assets, advising Peugeot’s family on the restructuring of Peugeot SA’s capital which involved China’s Dongfeng Motor Group and the French state, the board of Club Méditerranée in the context of competing take-over bids from China’s Fosun Group and Italia’s Bonomi’s Group, the board of Areva in the financial restructuring of the company.  

Chambers & Partners recognized Jean-Pierre as an “Individual Star” in Corporate/M&A, noting that he is a “seasoned and highly-respected M&A practitioner whose experience covers a wide range of transactional activities.

Jean-Pierre has also developed very substantial litigation and arbitration experience, being ranked Band 1 by Chambers in Dispute Resolution. Most notably, among his successes, the very high-profile Bernard Tapie Case where he has been assisting Consortium de Réalisation, the French government entity tasked with liquidating the assets of Crédit Lyonnais for the French State. Jean-Pierre won rulings from the Paris Court of Appeal in 2015 that withdrew initial arbitral awards that had required CDR to pay €404 million to Tapie’s liquidators and companies and sentenced them to repay CDR the full amount plus interests and costs. He has just succeeded in obtaining visible Court decisions which have released from any criminal liability charged persons with tax fraud.

Jean-Pierre also serves as an arbitrator in ad hoc, ICC and AFA arbitration proceedings.

He speaks and publishes regularly.

Jean-Pierre is the founder and a member of the board of the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders - ICM, a state-approved foundation which is on its way to becoming the leading international research center in Europe in the Neurosciences.

George Rigo Partner

Paris

George also has experience on acquisition finance and restructuring matters. 

George has a very strong proficiency in the renewable energy sector, working alongside major players in the market and advising on key projects in France. George mainly advises on the financing and acquisition of windfarm and solar projects, lately he has counseled 123 Ventures, Impax, Nord LB and EOS Holding on different transactions.

George’s extensive experience on cross-border transactions includes negotiating and drafting international contracts or commercial partnerships with an emphasis on litigation issues succeeding the implementation of such agreements. Recently, George has advised Biostime, a Chinese manufacturer of nutritional and baby care products, listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, regarding the signature of an industrial and commercial cooperation agreement with a French dairy cooperative.

Before joining Orrick, George was an associate with Watson, Farley & Williams. He previously worked for Fidal Peat International Paris and the Paris office of Proskauer Rose.

Blake Winburne Partner

Houston

Blake is recognized both nationally and globally by Chambers (Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2008-2022), including in Band 1 for Projects: Power & Renewables: Transactional, Projects. Chambers sources report that he has "excellent command of what is going on in the market and translates that into commercial advice." Blake is also recognized in the "Hall of Fame" for Energy Transactions: Electric Power by Legal 500 and has been named one of the "world’s leading energy and natural resources lawyers" by Euromoney (2009-2020).

Blake advises clients on energy sector mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, and on the development, structuring, and financing of large-scale energy projects in the United States and internationally. He regularly represents multinational energy companies, large private equity funds, project developers and sponsors, borrowers and debt issuers, investment banks, and other capital providers and investors in the energy industry.

Blake has significant experience in the electric power sector, including fossil fuel-fired, simple and combined-cycle and co-generation facilities, as well as wind, solar (central station and distributed), landfill gas, biomass and other renewable energy projects. He also represents clients in transactions involving oil, natural-gas and refined-products pipelines, gathering and processing systems and storage facilities (tank farms and underground), exploration and production investment platforms and operations, electric power and natural gas transmission and local distribution systems and alternative fuels production and marketing arrangements.