GDF Suez delays launch of inaugural legal roster
GDF Suez has delayed finalising its first-ever external legal panel, with the energy company still working on agreements with potential panel firms.
Linklaters
The roster - on which Linklaters, Shearman & Sterling and French independent Bredin Prat are understood to have won places - was expected to be completed last month, but the French company is still finalising the legal master agreements with firms.
In-house lawyers are currently clarifying details of firms’ pitches with the relevant relationship partners, with the documents now expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
The delay is thought to be related to holidays and the fact that this is a new activity for the energy giant, rather than any obstacles in the process.
Clifford Chance is understood not to have been appointed to the panel, despite its ties with International Power, with which GDF Suez engaged in a multi-billion tie-up last year (30 January 2012).
GDF Suez declined to comment.
