Lawyer headcount 425
Partners 87
Revenue €124m (+5%)
Offices Rome, Milan, Bologna, Padua, Turin, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Hong Kong, London and New York
Key clients Hitachi, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, Gruppo COIMA, Leonardo
Managing partners Antonio Auricchio, Rosario Zaccà
Recent work highlights Advising the Italian state railway, Ferrovie dello Stato, in the privatisation of Grandi Stazioni – sold by auction for €953m; advising Leonardo-Finmeccanica in the agreement with Space2 in its acquisition of 81% in Avio – a space propulsion system provider – from Cinven.
Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners experienced notable headcount growth in 2016: its lawyer numbers increasing from 394 to 425 while 19 of the firm’s 87 partners were appointed during the past 12 months. Meanwhile, revenues increased by 5% from €118m to €124m.
‘We are trying to focus more strategically on certain matters,’ says Francesco Gianni, senior partner of the largest independent player in Italy, which he founded nearly 30 years ago. Those matters include international expansion and ‘more strategic transactions’.
‘In Italy, clients go more for quality and skills than for fees.’
Francesco Gianni, Gianni Origoni
The firm has grown its capacity in corporate and, particularly, in litigation, which now accounts for a quarter of revenues. Despite the continuous pressure on fees, he says: ‘We are fortunate to be involved in a number of very important and sensitive transactions in Italy, where clients focus more on quality and skills than on fees.’
The firm appointed eight new partners last June and a further 11 in January. ‘We had a large number of outstanding lawyers and we wanted to satisfy their expectations,’ notes Gianni. He highlights the state sale of Grandi Stazioni, on which the firm advised, as ‘the largest privatisation, and indeed, the only one’.
In terms of future deals, he anticipates continued interest in Italy from strategic investors, notably Chinese, in brands, technology, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Italian companies, he adds, are also keener to make investments abroad. Following the bailout of Italy’s oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Gianni points to further restructuring of the domestic banking sector with fresh mergers and asset sales expected to continue. He does not, however, anticipate Italy gaining much from Brexit: ‘We expect to benefit marginally. We are not pessimistic, but we believe that Brexit is more relevant for other jurisdictions.’
Among developing practice areas, he identifies tax litigation: ‘We are growing and we need more partners. Capital markets are less active in equity, but pretty active in terms of debt.’ The firm has also developed a niche art work practice, primarily for litigation.
Following local rival BonelliErede’s opening in Cairo and Addis Ababa recently, Gianni is also looking to Africa ‘for infrastructure, construction, and oil and gas’, suggesting that west and South Africa will be the focus for key clients such as Eni, and therefore the potential base for new offices.