Julie Cornély

Full Profile

With over two decades of legal expertise, Julie Cornely is a seasoned M&A lawyer renowned for her strategic insight and sophisticated handling of complex transactions. Her practice centers on mergers and acquisitions, with a strong emphasis on strategic joint ventures, corporate restructurings (including spin-offs and both domestic and cross-border mergers), and a broad range of general corporate matters.

Julie advises a diverse clientele, including institutional investors, French and international investment funds, as well as industrial groups, entrepreneurs, and developers. She is particularly active in the energy sector, where she has developed significant experience in onshore wind, solar energy, biomass, and energy efficiency projects.

Her sectoral expertise also spans industrial manufacturing, agriculture, luxury goods, and emerging technologies, enabling her to provide tailored legal solutions across a wide array of industries.

Before joining Clyde & Co, Julie held senior roles at several prominent French and international law firms.

Julie's deep industry knowledge, combined with her pragmatic and client-focused approach, makes her a trusted advisor for high-stakes transactions and long-term strategic planning.
 

Experience

• Advice and assistance of the private equity fund PEARL INFRASTRUCTURE CAPITAL in:
  • the acquisition of a 95% stake in a holding company operating brownfield biomass cogeneration assets located in France;
  • the implementation of a strategic partnership with IDEX, financially supported by ANTIN INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS, for the operation of two of the early brownfield biomass cogeneration portfolio held by Pearl Infrastructure Capital, with a combined capacity of approximately 100 MW;
  • the acquisition of a portfolio consisting in three "early brownfield" biomass cogeneration plants and two associated operating and supply companies from the French independent renewable energy producer, AKUO. In the process, Pearl also acquired the minority stakes of CNIM Groupe, Banque des Territoires and various entities of the Crédit Agricole Group.
• Advice and assistance of HOLOSOLIS, a project company to develop, build and operate the largest photovoltaic panels, modules and solutions factory in Europe, including in the scope of the completion of:
  • the pre-seed round with the entry, alongside KIC InnoEnergy SE, of Groupe Idec and TSE;
  • the seed round with the entry, alongside KIC InnoEnergy SE, Groupe Idec and TSE, of Armor Group and Heraeus Beteiligungsverwaltungsgesellschaft MbH.​​​​
• Advice and assistance of the consortium composed of CNR, BANQUE DES TERRITOIRES and the regional banks of CRÉDIT AGRICOLE CENTRE-EST, LANGUEDOC, SUD RHÔNE ALPES AND ALPES PROVENCE in the setting up of a strategic partnership taking the form of a new financing vehicle, Solarhona Invest, dedicated to accelerating the deployment of photovoltaic projects in the Rhône Valley;
• Advice and assistance of SOFIPROTÉOL, Groupe Avril’s financing and development company, in its acquisition of an equity stake in FRENCHFOOD CAPITAL, through the implementation of a strategic partnership to support FrenchFood Capital’s growth in the promotion of food transition;
• Advice and assistance of SunMind, a VINCI subsidiary, designing, financing, building, and operating photovoltaic power plants on behalf of companies and local authorities, with the intent of accelerating their decarbonization which led to the creation of SunWave, a company dedicated to offer solarization services to players in the real estate, industry, and local authority sectors, with a focus on decentralized projects in France, notably on rooftops and parking lots;
• Advice and assistance of VERKOR, a company project to implement a gigafactory to allow a large-scale industrialisation of lithium-ion batteries, including in the scope of the completion of:
  • the organisation of the Series B round of 100 million euros with the entry in the share capital of investors and structuring partners such as Renault, the EQT Fund, Arkema, Tokai Cobex and the Fonds de Modernisation Ecologique des Transports (FMET) managed by Demeter, alongside EIT InnoEnergy and the other historic shareholders (IDEC, Schneider Electric, Capgemini);
  • the organisation of a financing round in the form of convertible bonds for a maximum amount of 200 million euros;
• Advice and assistance of Irish company Greencoat Renewables PLC (now part of Schroders Greencoat LLP) in its acquisition of several onshore wind farms with a total capacity of 65.5 MW in France from the German energy company Volkswind GmbH (a subsidiary of the Axpo Group);
• Advice and assistance of Andera Infra, investor in high-growth green infrastructure in the energy transition sectors (renewable energy production, mobility and green data centres), in a new round of financing and the acquisition by Infravia, via its €5 billion InfraVia V Invest fund, of a majority stake in Kyotherm, a major player in the field of renewable heat and energy efficiency.

Publications

Anker Sorensen, Julie Cornély, "Share Buy-Back Programs in Times of Economic Downturn: The French Perspective", International Corporate Rescue, Volume 14, Issue 6, 2017; Julie Cornély, Marc Fredj, "L'obligation d'information, source d'incertitudes dans les nouveaux contrats", L'AgefiHebdo, N° 548, January 2017; Julie Cornély, Marc Fredj, "L'imprévision dans la réforme des contrats", Lexbase Hebdo, édition affaires, N° 499, February 2017; Julie Cornély, Sandrine Cullaffroz-Jover, "A French Perspective: Mitigating Cyber Risks in M&A Deals", Focus Europe, January 2016.