Romain Dambre
Image of Romain Dambre

Romain Dambre

Partner

Romain is Consumer and Retail Sector Lead.

Romain advises public and private companies, as well as financial sponsors and their portfolio companies, on a wide range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, take-privates, divestitures, carve-outs, joint ventures, equity financings and corporate restructurings.

Romain has advised clients on numerous significant matters, totaling over USD250 billion in value. He has been recommended by Legal 500 for U.S. M&A: large deals (USD1bn+), and for U.S. private equity buyouts: middle-market (up to USD500m), with clients noting that Romain “impresses with his ’out of the box solutions’ in leveraged buyouts and carve-outs”. Romain has also been referenced as a ‘Distinguished Adviser’ for Private Equity by Financier Worldwide, and ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ for M&A by Super Lawyers and selected to Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40”, which acknowledges the next generation of legal leaders.

He is a frequent contributor to thought leadership pieces on corporate law and M&A and private equity trends, and has been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Financier Worldwide.

 

Expertise

Industries

Experience

Representative matters

Technology & Media 
  • Advent International in its acquisition of CCC Information Services. 
  • Answers Corporation in connection with corporate aspects of its financial restructuring.
  • Apax Partners in:
    • its acquisition of Dominion Marine Media.
    • its sale of a majority stake in Boats Group to Permira.
  • Bridgepoint in its reinvestment in Kyriba, alongside new minority investor General Atlantic, at a valuation over $3 billion. 
  • Charter Communications in its streaming platform joint venture with Comcast Corporation. 
  • Disney in connection with ESPN’s strategic partnership with the XFL. 
  • Find.co in its acquisition of Salon.com. 
  • Fortive Corporation in its $2 billion acquisition of Accruent. 
  • Global AI in a strategic partnership with HUMAIN (a PIF company).
  • Grubhub in its $7.3 billion sale to Just Eat Takeaway.com. 
  • Infineon Technologies in its $10 billion acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor. 
  • Micro Focus in its $8.8 billion acquisition of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s software business.
  • Nestwave in its sale to NextNav. 
  • Plantronics in its terminated sale discussions with Logitech. 
  • StereoLabs in its acquisition by Ouster, Inc. 
  • Townsquare Media’s Board special committee in the repurchase by Townsquare of the entirety of Oaktree Capital Management’s ownership stake in Townsquare. 
  • Travelport Worldwide in:
    • its $4.4 billion sale to Elliott Management and Siris Capital.
    • response to shareholder activism by Elliott Management.
    • corporate aspects of a liability management transaction. 
  • Vericast in:
    • its $420 million sale of RetailMeNot to J2 Global.
    • its sale of RxSaver to GoodRx. 
Industrials, Chemicals & Materials
  • AkzoNobel in its terminated discussions regarding a potential merger of equals transaction between Axalta and Akzo’s Paints & Coatings business.
  • Celanese Corporation in:
    • its $11 billion acquisition of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials business.
    • its $1.15 billion acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Santoprene business.
    • the $500 million divestiture of its Micromax business to Element Solutions Inc. 
  • Huntsman Corporation in:
    • its proposed $20 billion merger of equals with Clariant.
    • 40 North and Corvex Management’s campaign against Huntsman’s proposed $20 billion merger of equals with Clariant. 
  • Katerra Inc. in corporate aspects of its out-of-court restructuring and recapitalization. 
  • OCI N.V. in:
    • its $2.35 billion sale of its Clean Ammonia plant in Beaumont, Texas to Woodside.
    • its $2.05 billion sale of its global methanol business to Methanex. 
  • An investment bank as financial advisor to Marel in connection with John Bean Technology’s $3.8 billion tender offer to Marel shareholders.
  • SABIC in:
    • the $500 million divestiture of its European petrochemicals business to AEQUITA.
    • the $450 million divesture of its petrochemicals and engineering thermoplastics businesses in Europe and the Americas to Mutares. 
Energy & Infrastructure 
  • BlackRock Infrastructure and Grain Management in the acquisition of a minority interest in Phoenix Tower International from funds affiliated with Blackstone (won ‘Towers Deal of the Year’ at the 2024 TMT M&A Awards). 
  • A group of investment banks as financial advisors to Atlas Investissement (Xavier Niel) in connection with Atlas Investissement’s public offers to purchase all of the outstanding common shares and SDRs of Millicom International Cellular S.A. for approximately $4.1 billion. 
  • EdgeConneX in connection with several corporate transactions and strategic partnerships.
  • EQT Infrastructure in:
    • its $5.3 billion take-private acquisition of Covanta Holding Corporation.
    • the carve-out of Covanta’s European operations to create a standalone Waste-to-Energy platform.
    • its acquisition of Seven Seas Water Group from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.
  • GCM Grosvenor in its minority investment of up to $100 million in Vesper Energy.
  • IHS Towers in the $952m sale of its Latin America tower business to Macquarie Asset Management.
  • La Caisse in its investment in Pike Corp. alongside TPG.
  • Tactical Resources in its $589 million combination with Plum Acquisition Corp III.
Consumer, Retail & Hospitality
  • Accor Group in its sale of Onefinestay to Exclusive Resorts. 
  • Campari Group in its $1.2 billion acquisition of premium cognac Courvoisier from Beam Suntory. 
  • Carvana in its $2.2 billion acquisition of KAR Global’s U.S. physical auction business. 
  • Equity One in its $15.6 billion merger with Regency Centers Corporation. 
  • Greenbriar Equity Group in its investment in Morgan Auto Group. 
  • Imperial Brands in multiple product acquisitions in the U.S. 
  • JDE Peet’s in its $260 million strategic transaction with Caribou Coffee. 
  • Marriott Vacations in its $4.7 billion acquisition of ILG. 
  • SHV Holdings in its $122.5 million sale of Makro and Basualdo in Argentina to Cencosud. 
  • Wynn Resorts in its defense against a ""withhold-the-vote"" campaign by Elaine Wynn and its agreement with Elaine Wynn regarding the composition of the Wynn Resorts board of directors. 
Healthcare & Life Sciences
  • Actavis in its $70.5 billion acquisition of Allergan.
  • Altaris in its $316 million take-private acquisition of Trean Insurance Group.
  • Blackstone in its $6.1 billion acquisition of TeamHealth.
  • Eli Lilly in connection with several corporate transactions, including its acquisition of Protomer Technologies for a potential transaction value of over $1.0 billion.
  • GlaxoSmithKline in its $12.7 billion worldwide consumer health joint venture with Pfizer.
  • Morgan Stanley as financial advisor to Cempra in its merger with Melinta Therapeutics.
  • WellCare Health Plans in its $17.3 billion sale to Centene Corporation.
Transportation & Logistics
  • Atlas Crest Investment Corp in its $1.7 billion combination with Archer Aviation 
  • Avis Budget Group in its defense against a proxy contest by SRS Investment Management and its agreement with SRS regarding the composition of the Avis Budget Group board of directors. 
  • Ridgemont Equity Partners in its acquisition of Worldwide Express. 
  • United Airlines in its $6.8 billion financing comprising of $3.8 billion of bonds and $3 billion of term loans secured by the airline’s MileagePlus loyalty program. 
Consulting & Professional Services
  • Sard Verbinnen & Co in its merger with Finsbury Glover Hering.
  • Sia in:
    • a minority investment of up to EUR250 million from Blackstone.
    • its acquisition of Kaiser Associates.

Published Work

  • “The evolution of Delaware Corporate Law: finding certainty in uncertain times”, A&O Shearman (2024) (co-authored)
  • "Market Practice is Not Law": Delaware Court of Chancery invalidates "New Wave" stockholder agreement constraining Board authority”, A&O Shearman (2024) (co-authored)
  • “The SEC adopts amendments to beneficial ownership reporting requirements”, A&O Shearman (2023) (co-authored)
  • “Initial Coin Offerings and U.S. Securities Regulation: Challenges and Perspectives,” 1 Int’l J. Fin. Serv. 9 (2018)
  • Equity Derivatives: French and EU Corporate Law Aspects (Larcier eds., 1st ed. 2016, 527 pp.) (in French)
  • “Hedging by Corporate Executives: Three Regulatory Models,” 1/2 Rev. Trim. Dr. Fin. 59 (2015) (in French)
  • “A Transalpine Look at Equity Derivatives: Convergence and Divergence in Disclosure and Takeover Regulations in the EU,” 3 Rev. Trim. Dr. Fin. 64 (2012) (co-authored)

Recognition

Romain Dambre is a very savvy M&A lawyer, extremely quick on his toes, and he really quickly grasps the crux of the issues and comes up with clever, out of the box solutions.
Legal 500, 2025
Impresses with his ’out of the box solutions’ in leveraged buyouts and carve-outs.
Legal 500, 2025

Awards

  • They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 (Bloomberg Law)
  • Legal 500 U.S. M&A (USD1bn+ deals)
  • Legal 500 U.S. private equity buyouts: middle-market (up to USD500m)
  • ‘Rising Star’ for M&A (Super Lawyers)
  • HEC Lawyer of the Year (2023)
  • Pierre Coppens Award (2017)

Qualifications

Admissions

Admitted to the Bar of New York 

Academic

Yale Law School LL.M

Sorbonne Law School Ph.D. summa cum laude

Sorbonne Law School J.D. magna cum laude

HEC Paris M.Sc., List of Excellence

Languages

English, French
Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.