Olivier Debeine

Head of Restructuring at CBR & Associés, Olivier Debeine leads our distressed companies practice, which includes distressed company mergers and acquisitions, turnarounds, acquisitions of businesses or assets of distressed companies, and litigation.

Olivier Debeine intervenes in complex, high-stakes strategic projects involving all stakeholders: management, shareholders, creditors and receivers under French law for national and international restructurings.

Olivier Debeine was a lecturer in insolvency law in Master 1 at the Université Panthéon Assas Paris II for five years, and contributes to leading scientific journals on restructuring.

He is admitted to the Paris Bar. He was sworn in March 2004.

RANKINGS

• Décideurs 2023 – Excellent – Advisor to Debtors – Small & Mid-Cap
• Décideurs 2023 – Excellent – Advisor to Receivers and Insolvency Trustees

The firm is recognized for its expertise in transnational cases. The team, which is involved in complex strategic cases, provides close support to companies in order to implement practical and sustainable solutions.

• Legal500 2021 – Insolvency

CBR & Associés is praised for its ability to accurately assess situations its and agility in leading negotiation. Led by Olivier Debeine, the team delivers ‘excellent work’ that ‘mitigates potential risks. It represents debtors, investors and insolvency trustees.

• //Legal500 2020 – Insolvency

The team is made up of all excellent professionals, solidly trained and always available. Team members always listen to their clients’ requirements and always find a solution in a very short time. The team shows good judgement on decisions to be made which minimizes potential risks. Olivier Debeine demonstrates rigor and expertise in his analysis and provides accurate recommendations. He has a perfect knowledge of his field and masters the procedures.

Publications

• The absolute priority rule, revue des procédures collectives no. 6, November – December 2021
• The absolute priority rule, a talks catalyst, revue des procédures collectives no. 3, March-April 2022
• The parent company’s liability in the event of the sale of a distressed subsidiary (comments on the decision of the Commercial Chamber dated March 1, 2023), revue des procédures collectives no. 4, July-August 2023

Recent interventions

• We are representing the Central Works Council of Distribution Casino France in its accelerated safeguard proceedings. Distribution Casino France employs 18,000 people.
• We act on behalf of an insolvency trustee in arbitration proceedings administered by the ICDR seeking EUR 10 m damages against a US. Group (ongoing).
• We defended a group employing over 2,000 people in France, with sales of €334m in 2021, against the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s request to open receivership or liquidation proceedings (2022).
• We advised a group on the refinancing of its continuation plan debt and its LBO. The debtor raised €17 million in equity, senior debt and mezzanine debt. We structured the legal process for exiting its plan, drafted the documentation for the sale of its stake by the former majority shareholder and for the issue, and co-drafted the debt documentation and the new shareholder agreement. Two funds took minority stakes (2022).
• We acted as expert witnesses for a French company before the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The party on whose behalf we intervened was defending against a contractual liability claim of 8.5 million euros from the New-York State Thruway Authority (“NYSTA”). As an expert in French insolvency law, we submitted a written statement to the Court and were cross-examined by the plaintiff’s counsel on a question of French insolvency law (2022).
• We represented a major customer group of a logistics company in receivership, exposed to losses of tens of millions of euros in the event of service disruption. We encouraged the presentation of a joint bid to take over certain strategic activities of the debtor. The success of this disposal plan ensured the continuity of our client’s services (2022).
• We represent a major telecommunications group, protecting its rights as co-contractor and strategic creditor in the insolvency proceedings of a supplier and its subsidiary. The claims declared by our client amount to around 30 million euros (in progress for several years).
• We represented several debtors in work-out processes led by a court-appointed conciliator to amend their financial debt agreements as part of conciliation procedures (2022).
• We represented a major group in connection with the termination of its agreements with a distressed partner, through amicable and then legal proceedings (2022).

Career history

• Since October 2016: Partner with CBR & Partners
• 2014 : Debeine and Ffrench, Partner Founder
• 2004 – 2014 : SCP GRAND AUZAS, Associate

Education

• 2004 : Admission to the Paris Bar – Certificate of Aptitude
• 2002 : Postgraduate (DESS) in Business Law and Tax law – with honors – University Paris II Panthéon–Assas
• 2001 : Master in Business Law – with high honors – University Paris II Panthéon-Assas
• 2000 : Bachelor In Civil Law – with high honors – University Paris II Panthéon-Assas

Languages

• French
• English