People
Hervé Ekué
Biography
Hervé is Global Managing Partner and a member of the Executive Committee and Board.
He joined Allen & Overy in France in 2001 and was the Allen & Overy Managing Partner of France between 2018 and 2024. Hervé specialises in debt capital markets and derivatives. He also advises financial institutions and corporates on financial law and financial restructuring, with a focus on the structuring and issuance of debt, hybrid, digital and derivative securities. Enjoying significant recognition from his peers, Hervé has been Chambers’ top-ranked lawyer in Debt Capital Markets in France for many years and is the only ranked “Star Individual”. In 2023 he was ranked in France as part of the “Top 40 lawyers of the CAC40 companies” (Forbes/LJA).
Practice areas
- Capital markets
- Debt capital markets
- Derivatives
- Covered bonds
- Environmental social and governance
- Insurance
Sectors
- Banks
- Insurance
Selected experience
- The syndicate of banks on EDF's issuance of green bonds financing nuclear energy projects aligned with the EU Taxonomy, the first of its kind in the European market.
- The banking syndicate (arrangers, lenders and hedging banks) on the setting up of a new EUR1.2 billion financing in Europe for Phoenix Tower International.
- The underwriting syndicate, including BNP Paribas as Global Coordinator, Sole Bookrunner and Lead Manager and several international investment banks as Co-Managers, on the EUR1,000,000,000 Perpetual Fixed Rate Resettable Additional Tier 1 Notes issuance of BNP Paribas.
- Ubisoft on the placement of bonds convertible into and/or exchangeable for new or existing shares (“OCEANEs”) due 2028 by way of a public offering only to qualified investors, for a nominal amount of EUR470 million.
- The banking syndicate including BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan as global coordinators and joint bookrunners in relation to L’Oréal’s inaugural public bond offering for an aggregate nominal amount of EUR 3 billion, including a sustainability-linked tranche.
- A consortium of banks on European Investment Bank’s issue of a digital bond on Ethereum public blockchain. The EUR100 million two-year bond was the market’s first multi dealer led, primary issuance of digitally native tokens using public blockchain technology.
Education
- Master in Banking & Finance, University of Paris V Descartes, 1995-1996
- Post Graduate Degree, Private & Business Law, University of Paris V Descartes, 1994-1995
Admissions
- Paris, 1999
Languages
- French
- English
- Spanish