Thomas Margenet-Baudry

Thomas Margenet-Baudry is a partner in the firm's Corporate Department and the Deputy Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins' Paris office. Mr. Margenet-Baudry is a member of the Paris and New York bars and leads the Capital Markets Practice of the firm, focusing on high-yield debt and equity securities offerings.

He has represented issuers and underwriters on a broad range of French, international, and US capital raising transactions, including initial public offerings, high-yield financings, rights issues, convertible and exchangeable bonds and investment grade debt offerings. He also has a broad experience with French public M&A and tender offer regulation, and regularly advises clients on French and EU corporate governance and securities regulation matters.

Before joining Latham in 2009, Mr. Margenet-Baudry spent eight years with a leading US law firm in New York from 2001 to 2005 and in Paris from 2005 to 2009, which included a one-year secondment within the legal department of a US Investment Bank in London and Paris.

Recognitions

Mr. Margenet-Baudry is recognized as a Leading Individual. Chambers Europe 2022

Mr. Margenet-Baudry is recognized as a Leading Individual. According to clients, “Thomas is incredibly smart and goes the extra mile, beyond his core area of expertise, to find innovative solutions to complex issues. It is an absolute pleasure to work with Thomas: he is extremely nice, he has great listening skills, and he is very hands-on but with a clear sense of what is important.” The Legal 500 EMEA 2020 

According to his clients, "he finds good solutions for everyone, is very on top of everything and knows IPOs inside out." Chambers Europe 2020

Mr. Margenet-Baudry receives praise from market commentators for his handling of both equity and debt capital markets mandates. He has extensive expertise advising on high-yield transactions. He also assists with IPOs and block trades. Chambers Europe 2019

Mr. Margenet-Baudry is recognized as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 EMEA 2019.

"The highly versatile Mr. Margenet-Baudry is a great adviser." The Legal 500 EMEA 2017

Mr. Margenet-Baudry offers solid expertise in the high-yield sector, and is described by one client as "one of the nicest lawyers I've ever come across." Chambers Europe 2017

His work in high-yield earns him positive feedback from clients, who call him "energetic and upfront." Chambers Europe 2016

 

Mr. Margenet-Baudry's recent experience includes advising:

• Farallon Capital as subscriber of GreenYellow’s issue of €109 million convertible bonds with warrants attached; GreenYellow is a leading energy transition company and subsidiary of Casino Group
• Burger King in its sale of Quick
• Elior Group on its €550 million senior notes issuance
• Derichebourg in its inaugural €300 million green notes offering
• The underwriters (Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Natixis, Société Générale, Arkea Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels, and CM-CIC) in connection with the €480 million green High Yield bond issued by the Paprec Group
• The underwriters on the Initial Public Offering of American Depositary Shares by Cellectis
• Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Crédit Agricole CIB, Natixis, and Société Générale in connection with the €660 million high yield deal to refinance French industrial equipment rental business Loxam's existing debt
• Fives on the refinancing of its existing senior and mezzanine debt through a €580 million high yield bond 
• Elior, a leading global caterer and support services provider, in connection with its IPO on the Euronext Paris
• JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, UniCredit, Crédit Agricole, and BNP Paribas in connection with the refinancing of the existing bank debt of Alain Afflelou Group via a €440 million high yield bond offering due in 2019
• PAI Partners/Global Closure Systems in connection with the refinancing of its existing debt through an issuance of €350 million aggregate principal amount of high yield bonds due 2018
• JP Morgan and the other underwriters in connection with the IPO of Criteo on NASDAQ
• Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan in connection with the €190 million high yield offering by Oberthur Technologies
• Charterhouse Capital Partners / Elior in relation to the €350 million high yield bond offering, to repay existing bank facilities
• BNPP, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan on the €450 million high yield offering by Elis
• Credit Suisse, Crédit Agricole CIB, and Natixis on the €385 million high yield bond offering of Medi-Partenaires
• BNPP on the €300 million high yield offering by Cegedim
• Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse on the €300 million high yield offering by Loxam
• PAI Partners/Cerba on the €365 million high yield offering by Cerba
• The joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, which included, among others, Deutsche Bank, on a €300 million high yield bond offering by leading European equipment rental group Europcar
• Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and UBS, as joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, on the CHF1.1 billion high yield bond offering implemented in connection with the acquisition by Apax Partners of Orange Communications S.A. (Switzerland) from France Telecom
• Eutelsat S.A. in connection with its €800 million standalone bond offering
• Lagardère in connection with the attempted IPO of Canal+ France
• The joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, which included, among others, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, on a €350 million high yield bond offering by the Europcar group to refinance in part a senior asset financing loan facility
• Alain Afflelou in connection with its attempted IPO on Euronext Paris
• Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan, as joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, on the standalone inaugural bond offering into the United States by RCI Banque for an aggregate principal amount of US$2 billion
• The joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, Deutsche Bank and Credit Agricole CIB, on a €400 million high yield bond offering by Europcar Group SA to refinance in part its existing indebtedness
• Axa Private Equity and Permira on the high yield bond offering by OdiGeo in connection with the joint acquisition by Axa Private Equity and Permira of Opodo and the related combination of Opodo, Go Voyages, and eDreams Inc
• The joint bookrunners and initial purchasers, which included, among others Société Générale, in connection with Eutelsat S.A.’s inaugural Regulation S standalone bond offering for an aggregate principal amount of €850 million
• The French sovereign fund FSI in connection with its minority investment into Euronext listed company Vilmorin & Co

• French Liquidity Support Measures Amid the COVID-19 Crisis: One Week After, Where Do Borrowers and Lenders Stand? -  April 03, 2020
• Impact of COVID-19 on French Listed Companies and High Yield Issuers  -  March 25, 2020
• The Initial Public Offerings Law Review, Third Edition – France  -  May 10, 2019
• Europe’s New Market Abuse Rules for Issuers of Debt Securities -  February 02, 2016
• L’attractivité des émissions high yield et des financements bancaires américains  -  December 01, 2013
• L’émergence des émissions high yield dans les opérations LBO et les processus de Staple High Yield Financing -  December 01, 2012