Thomas Pontacq

Thomas is a member of the Corporate/M&A department of Linklaters in Paris advising corporate and financial sponsors on a wide range of complex, cross-border corporate transactions, including private mergers and acquisitions, private equity sales and purchases and on general corporate-related law. Thomas has significant experience in the energy and infrastructure sector.

Seconded to the London office for six months in 2019-2020 (125 Corporate).

Work highlights

Recent transactions of significance where Thomas had a leading role include advising:

• BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund III: on its biggest investment in renewables in Europe consisting in the acquisition of Windvision’s European activities, which includes a 1GW development pipeline in Belgium, France and Spain and a 19MW operational project in Belgium
• CDPQ: on its acquisition alongside EQT for €1.7bn of Groupe Colisée, one of the main actors in the retirement home sector in Europe
• Marguerite Fund: on the sale of six photovoltaic power plants located in France with an aggregated installed capacity of 72 MWp, to Terres d’Énergie SAS, an investment vehicle owned by Tenergie and Crédit Agricole
• GBL: on its acquisition from KKR of a majority stake in the Webhelp group, together with its founders for €2.4bn
• PAI Partners: on its acquisition of Areas, a global leader in the travel catering market, from Elior Group for €1.5bn
• Sumitomo Corportation: on the acquisition, from Engie and EDPR, of a c. 30% stake in the Noirmoutier and Le Tréport offshore wind projects (c.500 MW each)

Prior to joining Linklaters, Thomas spent 4 years with two high profile M&A firms in Paris:

• Cabinet De Pardieu Brocas Maffei from 2014 to 2016
• Cabinet Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent from 2012 to 2014

Thomas graduated from Boston University (LLM degree) and from the University of Aix-en-Provence (Masters degree - DJCE)

He is fluent in French and English