Etienne Paletto is an associate in the Paris office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he serves as a member of the Projects and Infrastructure as well as Power and Renewables Practice Groups.

His practice focuses on the structuring, financing (including loans, bonds, hybrid and derivatives financings) and development of major energy and infrastructure projects on behalf of French or international sponsors, lenders, multilateral institutions, contractors and host governments. Over the years, he thus developed significant experience in infrastructure and energy M&A transactions.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn in 2023, Etienne practiced for five years within the Energy & Infrastructure department of an international law firm in Paris.

Admitted to the New York and Paris Bars since 2018 and 2019 respectively, Etienne received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from NYU in 2017 and graduated in Business law from University Paris I – Pantheon Sorbonne in 2014 and from Business Law and Finance from ESCP Europe in 2015.

He speaks French and English fluently.

Representative Transactions:

Digital Infrastructure

• Representation of InfraVia as sponsor in connection with the structuring of holdco debt for its Green data center project in Switzerland.
• Representation of the lenders in connection with a €3.15 billion financing made available to Société de Participation et d’Investissement dans le Numérique (SPIN), subsidiary of Infravia Capital Partners, Iliad S.A. and Free, for the purposes of (i) financing the acquisition of the shares of Investissement dans la Fibre du Territoire (IFT) by SPIN, (ii) refinancing the existing indebtness of IFT and (iii) financing the acquisition of new IRU rights and CCF (cablages clients finaux).

Energy and Power

• Representation of Electra, a European fast-charging specialist, on the EUR 60 million green loan financing for the roll-out of electric vehicles charging stations, in the context of a global partnership between Electra and Delhaize for the installation of such charging stations over parking slots of Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg.
• Representation of the lenders to Asterion Industrial Partners in connection with Asterion’s successful bid to acquire 100% of Steag, a leader in the energy sector and provider of no less than 25% of the electricity in the German market.