Biography
Nicolas Alfonsi is a senior associate in the EMEA Private Equity team within the Global Mergers & Acquisitions practice at White & Case. Fluent in both French and English, Nicolas is admitted to the bars of Paris and New York.
He specializes in high-value M&A transactions, representing private equity institutions, as well as listed and non-listed companies.
Nicolas's recent notable transactions include representing Alfa Laval in exclusive negotiations with Fives, a French industrial engineering group backed by private equity funds CDPQ, PSP, Ardian, and Bpifrance, to acquire Fives Cryogenics for an €800 million enterprise value (2025). He also advised Astorg Flagship Fund on its high-profile leveraged acquisition of Lebronze Alloys (2024), assisted Apollo Funds in their c. €1 billion exit from Vallourec through a sale to CAC 40 ArcelorMittal (2024), and supported French mass-market retailer Casino in implementing a new leadership management package (2024). Additionally, he assisted Nordic Capital and CVC with Cary's buy-and-build expansion strategy in France (2024) and counseled Providence Equity Partners in connection with its investment in La Centrale (2024).
His extensive experience includes advising Orpea on its precedent-making restructuring and investment from Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (2023), supporting Geopost, Europe's largest parcel delivery network, in the sale of Stuart to private equity fund Mutares (2023), assisting Vallourec in the implementation of its new governance (2022) and Piab in its acquisition of Franco-American group Joulin Cemma, a global leader in vacuum gripping solutions (2022). He advised Liberty Global in the $1.8 billion sale of UPC PL to Iliad (2021), and Amber Capital on its €610 million block sale in Lagardère to CAC 40 Vivendi (2021). He also supported Ardian Buyout in the large-cap LBO acquisitions of Inovie (2021) and Cérélia from IK Partners (2020). In 2021, he was seconded to the Head of Legal M&A at BNPP Personal Finance, where he assisted in the renegotiation of a significant joint-venture partnership with Stellantis.
A Harvard Law School graduate, Nicolas served as an editor at the Harvard Business Law Review and as a research assistant to the late Charles Fried, former United States Solicitor General. He is also a member of the Economic Security Group at the Institut Montaigne.
Experience
Recent experience includes:
Alfa Laval (2025)
Representation of Alfa Laval in its entry into exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of Fives Cryogenics from Fives, a French industrial engineering backed by private equity funds CDPQ, PSP, Ardian, and Bpifrance, for an enterprise value of €800 million.
Astorg Flagship Fund (2024)
Representation of Astorg Flagship Fund on its acquisition of a majority stake in Lebronze Alloys, a global leader in the manufacturing of semi-finished and finished products in technical high-performance copper and nickel alloys.
Cary Group, Nordic Capital and CVC (2024)
Representation of Cary Group, a Nordic Capital and CVC portfolio company, on the acquisition of 123 Pare-Brise, a leading independent vehicle glass repair and replacement specialist in France.
Apollo (2024)
Representation of Apollo Funds on the sale of their 28.4 percent voting interest and 27.5 percent equity stake in Vallourec to ArcelorMittal for a total consideration of €955 million, representing 65.2 million ordinary shares at a price of €14.64 per share.
Providence Equity Partners (2024)
Representation of Providence Equity Partners in connection with its investment in La Centrale, a leading provider of car classifieds in France.
Casino (2024)
Representation of French mass-market retailer Casino in the implementation of its new leadership management package, in the context of its restructuring and acquisition by EP Equity Investment III s.à r.l, a company controlled by businessman Daniel Kretinsky, alongside Fimalac and Attestor.
Hapag-Lloyd (2024)
Representation of Hapag-Lloyd, a Hamburg-based transport and logistics company, in its acquisition of 60% of the share capital of Compagnie Nouvelle de Manutention Portuaire from Seafrigo, an international group specialized in food logistics.
Klépierre (2024)
Representation of Klépierre, a real estate investment trust, on its acquisition of O'Parinor, a 70,000 square meter shopping center consisting of 190 shops and restaurants attracting 11 million visitors a year, in partnership with funds managed by Sofidy, a real estate firm and subsidiary of Tikehau Capital.
Geopost SA (2023)
Representation of Geopost SA, Europe's largest parcel delivery network and a subsidiary of La Poste Group, on the sale of its delivery platform Stuart (SRT Group) to the international investment fund Mutares.
Orpea (2023)
Representation of Orpea group on its accelerated safeguard plan and the related investment of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, as well as on several strategic M&As, in the context of its restructuring.
Kadiska (2023)
Representation of top management, Axeleo and other shareholders in their sale of Kadiska, an application software company, to global security leader Netskope.
Key managers (2023)
Representation of key managers in (i) their departure from, and litigation with, a leading fund-of-funds wealth management house and (ii) the incorporation of a new private equity fund.
Vallourec SA (2022)
Representation of CAC 40 Vallourec S.A. on various high-profile strategic and governance change matters, and top management package.
Bouygues Bâtiment, Omnes Capital and ValVital (2022)
Representation of BBNE, Omnes Capital and ValVital, as well as their investment vehicle, in connection with its conversion into an SEML during the performance of the concession contract, Omnes' and BBNE's exit, and the sale to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and the Metropole of Grand Nancy, in the context of a first-of-its-kind mediation agreement with the Metropole of Grand Nancy and opponents to the project.
Wren House (2022)
Representation of Wren House in an auction process to complete an investment in a leading French medical diagnostic provider.
Piab (2022)
Representation of Piab Management AB and Piab USA Inc., part of industrial conglomerate Investor AB, on their combined acquisition of Franco-American group Joulin Cemma, a global leader of vacuum gripping solutions, to become the world's leading automation company in the wood industry.
Tip (2022)
Representation of TIP group, a leading pan-European and Canadian provider of equipment services, in its strategic acquisition of French group SOFRAL.
Liberty Global (2021)
Representation of Liberty Global, one of the world's leading converged video, broadband and mobile communications companies, on its sale to Iliad of 100% of the share capital in Polish cable operator UPC Poland to Iliad's Polish mobile subsidiary Play for an enterprise value of $1.8 billion.
BNP Paribas Personal Finance (2021)
Seconded to the Head of Legal M&A to assist on the renegotiation of the strategic joint-venture partnership with mobility provider CAC 40 Stellantis, along with Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance and Santander Consumer Finance, making BNP PF Stellantis' exclusive partner for financing activities in the automotive sector in major geographic areas.
Altitude Infra Group (2021)
Representation of Altitude Infra Group, France's leading independent fibre operator, on the acquisition of private equity fund Marguerite's stakes in 3 FTTH concessions and on the acquisition from Covage, a wholesale fibre operator in France, of 26 public and private fibre networks.
Amber Capital (2021)
Representation of Amber Capital on the €610 million sale of its block in listed company Lagardère S.A. to CAC 40 listed company Vivendi S.A.
Founders, XAnge and Aglaé Ventures (2021)
Representation of top management, XAnge and Aglaé Ventures in connection with HRtech Skello's EUR 40 million Series B fundraising and Partech's related investment.
Apollo and SVPGlobal (2021)
Representation of Apollo and SVPGlobal on the implementation of the management package in the context of CAC 40 listed company Vallourec S.A.
Ardian Buyout (2021)*
Representation of Ardian in the primary LBO acquisition of Inovie, the leading independent medical diagnostic provider in France, alongside minority shareholders Mubadala, GIC and APG.
Ardian Buyout (2020)*
Representation of Ardian in the LBO acquisition of Cérélia, a leading transatlantic provider of innovative bakery solutions, from IK Investment Partners.
*Transactions worked on previous to joining White & Case