Kalish Mullen

Hogan Lovells’ Paris restructuring partner Astrid Zourli is leaving the firm to join French powerhouse Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier as head of its restructuring practice. She is bringing along a senior associate from her team when she makes the move. The addition of Zourli, scheduled to take effect March 9th, is Darrois' first step in rebuilding after an eight-lawyer restructuring team left for Linklaters in July 2025, Darrois co-managing partner Martin Lebeuf told Law.com International in an interview. That team included Darrois co-managing partner François Kopf, who became global chair of Linklaters’ restructuring and insolvency practice. “The restructuring practice is vital, essential, to our core business, which is corporate and strategic M&A and litigation,” said Lebeuf. “Our corporate clients, banks, need expertise in restructuring, for example, when they face difficulties or buy an asset from a company that is in difficulty or is restructuring.” Zourli joins Darrois after six years at Hogan Lovells, including four as a partner and two as counsel, according to her LinkedIn profile. She earlier spent seven years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, including six months in that firm’s New York office. She advises companies, shareholders, creditors and investors on complex reorganization and liquidation proceedings, both domestic and cross-border. Her expertise includes debt and equity restructurings, distressed M&A transactions, operational reorganizations, and related litigation, Darrois said. Zourli said she has worked on a number of high-profile French restructuring matters, including for shipping company Bourbon, glass tableware company Arc, Technicolor Creative Studios, bicycle parts maker Mavic and smartphone reconditioner Remade. Darrois plans to hire more restructuring lawyers after she arrives, she said, adding, “We are going to build a new team from a blank page.” Darrois has more than 90 lawyers, including 28 partners, according to LeBeuf. Hogan Lovells thanked Zourli for her contributions to the firm and wished her well. Hogan Lovells has recently lost other partners in Paris. The firm, which plans to merge with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft later this year, lost an eight-lawyer Paris PE/M&A team to Proskauer earlier this month. However, it also hired a five-lawyer public law team in Milan from BonelliErede. McDermott Takes Kirkland Debt Finance Partner in Paris Kalish Mullen. Courtesy photo In another Paris move, McDermott Will & Schulte hired Kirkland & Ellis debt-finance partner Kalish Mullen as a partner in its transactions practice. Mullen focuses on debt finance for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mullen has been a Kirkland partner for four years. He was previously at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He will work closely with colleagues across Paris, London, Milan, Frankfurt, and other European hubs on complex, multi-jurisdictional matters, McDermott said. In an email, Kirkland thanked Mullen for his contribution to the firm and wished him well in the future.

Feb 22

2 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Esker as it has entered into a Tender Offer Agreement which sets out the terms and conditions of the proposed acquisition of the ESKER shares by Bridgepoint, in association with General Atlantic and the management shareholders of the Company, through a French-law special purpose vehicle. The Offer values 100% of Esker’s share capital at approximately 1,621 million euros on a fully diluted basis. Read Esker’s press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Vincent Ponsonnaille and Louis Gosset and associates François Capoul and Etienne Vautier; debt finance partner Kalish Mullen; tax partner Nadine Gelli; antitrust & competition partner Thomas Wilson and associate Sarah Lonvick; and international trade & national security partners Mario Mancuso, Justin Schenck and Luci Hague.

Sep 20

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Mediawan, a French audiovisual content company, on the implementation of its new €500 million term loan facility and €225 million revolving facility in the context of its combination with Leonine, one of the largest independent studios in the German-speaking market. The seven-year term loan facility was used to, amongst other things, refinance existing indebtedness of the combined group and fund future growth. The combination creates one of Europe’s premier independent studios with a global presence across 13 countries, 85 labels, a catalogue of approximately 30,000 hours of premium content and revenue exceeding €1 billion. The Kirkland team consisted of debt finance partners Ian Barratt and Kalish Mullen, with the support of debt finance associates Toni Prskalo and Matias Versavel.

Jul 30

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Banijay Group (AMS: BNJ) and Betclic, the leading online sports betting and gaming operator in France, in connection with its offering of €1 billion in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes as part of the €3.1 billion financing for its combination with Tipico, a sports betting and online gaming operator in Germany and Austria. Pending consummation of the acquisition, the proceeds from the offering of the notes will be held in a segregated bank account controlled by the bond issuer. Betclic signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Tipico, and the acquisition is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to customary closing conditions and gambling regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to position Betclic as one of Europe’s leading sports betting and gaming players, with Banijay Group’s revenue exceeding €6.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA of approximately €1.4 billion as a result thereof. The Kirkland team included capital markets lawyers Cedric Van den Borren, Will Taylor, Luca Meneghini and Louis Noirault; debt finance lawyers Evgeny Zborovsky, Kalish Mullen and Matias Versavel; tax lawyers Nadine Gelli and Louise Chappey; and investment funds lawyer Josh Westerholm.

Feb 3

1 min

Hogan Lovells’ Paris restructuring partner Astrid Zourli is leaving the firm to join French powerhouse Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier as head of its restructuring practice. She is bringing along a senior associate from her team when she makes the move. The addition of Zourli, scheduled to take effect March 9th, is Darrois' first step in rebuilding after an eight-lawyer restructuring team left for Linklaters in July 2025, Darrois co-managing partner Martin Lebeuf told Law.com International in an interview. That team included Darrois co-managing partner François Kopf, who became global chair of Linklaters’ restructuring and insolvency practice. “The restructuring practice is vital, essential, to our core business, which is corporate and strategic M&A and litigation,” said Lebeuf. “Our corporate clients, banks, need expertise in restructuring, for example, when they face difficulties or buy an asset from a company that is in difficulty or is restructuring.” Zourli joins Darrois after six years at Hogan Lovells, including four as a partner and two as counsel, according to her LinkedIn profile. She earlier spent seven years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, including six months in that firm’s New York office. She advises companies, shareholders, creditors and investors on complex reorganization and liquidation proceedings, both domestic and cross-border. Her expertise includes debt and equity restructurings, distressed M&A transactions, operational reorganizations, and related litigation, Darrois said. Zourli said she has worked on a number of high-profile French restructuring matters, including for shipping company Bourbon, glass tableware company Arc, Technicolor Creative Studios, bicycle parts maker Mavic and smartphone reconditioner Remade. Darrois plans to hire more restructuring lawyers after she arrives, she said, adding, “We are going to build a new team from a blank page.” Darrois has more than 90 lawyers, including 28 partners, according to LeBeuf. Hogan Lovells thanked Zourli for her contributions to the firm and wished her well. Hogan Lovells has recently lost other partners in Paris. The firm, which plans to merge with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft later this year, lost an eight-lawyer Paris PE/M&A team to Proskauer earlier this month. However, it also hired a five-lawyer public law team in Milan from BonelliErede. McDermott Takes Kirkland Debt Finance Partner in Paris Kalish Mullen. Courtesy photo In another Paris move, McDermott Will & Schulte hired Kirkland & Ellis debt-finance partner Kalish Mullen as a partner in its transactions practice. Mullen focuses on debt finance for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mullen has been a Kirkland partner for four years. He was previously at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He will work closely with colleagues across Paris, London, Milan, Frankfurt, and other European hubs on complex, multi-jurisdictional matters, McDermott said. In an email, Kirkland thanked Mullen for his contribution to the firm and wished him well in the future.

Feb 22

2 min