Clifford Chance Badea, the local office of global law firm Clifford Chance, consolidates its team with four internal promotions by announcing a new counsel and three senior associates covering all practice areas.

Starting May 1, Radu Ropotă joins the counsels team of Clifford Chance, covering Banking and Capital Markets, as well as Insolvency and Restructuring matters. Lawyers Sabina Crângașu from the Litigation practice, Radu Costin – Corporate M&A, and Gabriel Toma – Banking and Capital Markets, have also been promoted to senior associates.

Radu Ropotă joined the firm 14 years ago and is one of the key lawyers of the Capital Markets team, having been involved in high-profile transactions in Romania in the last years, including IPOs, secondary offerings and block trades, medium-term note programs, covered bonds and high-yield bonds issuances. Chambers Europe 2018 guide notes that market peers and clients recognize his growing contribution to the capital markets sphere. Clients find him to be “very knowledgeable and responsive”. In addition, Radu has also been involved in complex domestic and cross-border restructurings and insolvency procedures.

Sabina Crângașu has been a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution team of Clifford Chance Badea since July 2013. She specializes in civil and commercial litigation. She has been advising clients from different areas in common law courts, as well as arbitration courts in relation to civil or financial liability cases, international commercial arbitration, intellectual property rights, administrative, fiscal and labor law litigation, banking litigation, real estate litigation, enforcement and insolvency procedures.

With nearly 8 years of legal practice, Radu Costin specialises in Corporate M&A, and has extensive experience in all aspects of M&A transactions, ranging from sale purchases to business transfers and cross-border private equity investments in various sectors, most recently in healthcare, media, real estate and oil & gas. His expertise also covers competition aspects, having been involved in various merger clearance notification procedures. In 2015 Radu spent a 6-month secondment in London with the global investment bank Morgan Stanley, where he has been involved mainly in international M&A work.

Gabriel Toma is a lawyer who specialises in banking & finance, having more than 10 years of legal practice. He has worked with both Romanian and international clients on a wide range of finance transactions, including real estate finance, municipal finance, acquisition finance and asset finance, as well as general banking and financial regulatory issues.

The Bucharest team of Clifford Chance currently has seven counsels – a title offering both autonomy and professional authority equivalent to partner level of other law firms: Andreea Șișman, Cosmin Anghel, Radu Ropotă - Banking, Finance & Capital Markets; Loredana Ralea and Mihai Măcelaru – Corporate M&A and Real Estate; Simona Neagu and Vlad Peligrad – Litigation & Dispute Resolution.

The team of senior associates also has seven lawyers, including Bianca Alecu (white collar crime), Diana Crângașu (competition law), Lavinia Nucu (Corporate M&A and Real Estate) and Raluca Coman (Banking & Finance).

Clifford Chance has been present in Romania since 2006 and operates now as Clifford Chance Badea. The Bucharest office is fully integrated in the global network and is frequently involved in complex transactions such as syndicated loans, project finance, restructurings, Eurobonds and shares issues on international capital markets, derivatives, companies' acquisitions by strategic investors or private equity funds, infrastructure and motorway projects, real estate investments etc., as well as domestic and international litigation and arbitration.
In the most recent editions of Legal500, Chambers Global and IFLR1000, Clifford Chance Badea ranks first (Tier 1) among law firms in Romania under the section of Banking & Finance and Capital Markets. It also has a strong Corporate and M&A practice (Tier 2 in Legal 500 and Chambers Global) and Litigation & Dispute Resolution (Tier 2 in Chambers Global).

For further details about Clifford Chance, please access www.cliffordchance.com.