Bonelli Erede Pappalardo

Bonelli Erede Pappalardo is an Italian law firm ("studio legale") formed in 1999 by the three-way merger between Genoa-based Bonelli e Associati, Milan-based Erede e Associati and Brussels-based Pappalardo e Associati. The firm now employs some 300 attorneys in five offices.

Legacy Firms

Bonelli e Associati was founded by Franco Bonelli, a reputable M&A attorney and Professor of Law at the University of Genoa.

Pappalardo e Associati was founded by in 1992 by Aurelio Pappalardo, a lawyer trained at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and the University of Chicago who had previously worked at the Milan office of Jones Day. ['Biography of Aurelio Pappalardo' (in italian) http://www.thinktel.org/pappalardo.asp]

Erede e Associati, founded in 1999, was led by Sergio Erede who was educated at the University of Milan and Harvard Law School. He previously was associated with Sullivan & Cromwell and Hale & Dorr, today's WilmerHale.

Reasons for the merger

The three-way merger was largely due to market pressure as the Italian legal market was undergoing rapid change with international (mostly American and British) law firms such as Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Shearman & Sterling actively looking to open offices in Italy or expand existing operations. ["The Lawyer" (1999) 'Three top Italian firms merger to fight UK and US predators.' http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=98786.] The merger was essentially a flanking operation and forced foreign firms to concentrate on mergers with smaller Italian firms or acquisitions of specific teams. In 2001, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo became a best friend firm of elite English outfit Slaughter & May. ["The Lawyer" (2001) 'Bonelli hires cement link with Slaughters.' http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=102073]

Charting its own course

As the Italian economy boomed, Bonelli's profitability soared. It benefited from high profile lateral hires in London from the Italian desks of such firms as Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy. In 2005, senior partners Sergio Erede and Franco Bonelli earned a reported £5 million. The next year, the firm surpassed €100 million in annual revenues. ["The Lawyer" (2006) 'Bonelli smashes €100m revenue ceiling.' http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=119998.] It currently works with Slaughter & May, Bredin Prat (France), Hengeler Mueller (Germany) and Uría Menéndez (Spain). It has worked with and opposite US firms such as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.

Notable Transactions

*Italian legal counsel to Electrabel SA, the Belgian electricity concern in a consortium €852.7 million acquisition of Interpower SpA from Enel SpA (2003).
*Advised Eurazeo SA, a French investment company in its €3.1 billion acquisition of Europcar from Volkswagen AG (2006).

Offices

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References

External links

* [http://www.beplex.com/ Official site]