Pauline Portos

Pauline joined Willkie in 2026 from Gibson Dunn. Earlier in her career she practiced for several years in the acquisition financing (LBO) department and the Energy and Infrastructure department of two Magic Circle law firms. 

Pauline has been recognized as Best Lawyer in Energy Law in the "Best Lawyers in France" ranking for 2027. 

• Advising Aéroports de Paris, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and SNCF Réseau on the structuring and €2bn+ financing of the CDG Express railway project.
• Advising the lenders on the structuring of a €2bn+ financing to IFT (Investissement dans la Fibre des Territoires), owned by Iliad, Free and InfraVia Capital Partners under a partnership aimed at accelerating FTTH (fibre to the home) rollouts in AMII, PIN and AMEL areas in France (IRU acquisition vehicle).
• Advising the lenders to SPIN (Société de Participation et d’Investissement dans le Numérique) on the €2bn+ financing and refinancing of a co-investment carve-out structure of long-term Indefeasible Rights of Use.
• Advising the mandated lead arrangers on the €2bn+ financing and the refinancing of the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm developed notably by EDF Renouvelables. 
• Advising the underwriters on the €2bn+ financing of the 500 MW Fécamp offshore wind farm developed notably by EDF Renouvelables.
• Advising JBIC on the financing of €2bn+ the 500 MW Yeu and Noirmoutier offshore wind farms developed notably by ENGIE.
• Advising ENGIE on its bid for the concession of the Paris heating network.
• Advising Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations on the contemplated financing of 6 new EPR2 nuclear plants by EDF in France.
• Advising the lenders to NGE, Transdev and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations on the financing of the Nancy-Contrexeville railway concession.
• Advising the lenders to Ardian on the bridge acquisition financing made available in the context of the acquisition by Ardian of the AKUO group.
• Advising the lenders on the €1bn+ platform financing of the wind, solar and battery portfolio of Boralex Europe.
• Advising the lenders to a consortium comprising VINCI Airports, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Crédit Agricole Assurances on the acquisition from the French State of its 60 per cent. shareholding in Aéroports de Lyon.
• Advising the lenders and bondholders on the refinancing of Axione Infrastructures and the financing of the second-generation construction and exploitation of public initiative networks.
• Advising the lenders on the financing of the A69 highway developed under a concession contract by Atosca, a consortium comprising NGE, Ascendi, Quaero Capital, and TIIC.
• Advising the lenders to a consortium comprising Meridiam, VINCI Construction and RATP Solutions Ville on its bid for the award of the Val-de-Grâce military hospital rehabilitation concession in Paris, France
• Advising Iliad in the context of its Towerco (Build-to-Suit (BTS) strategic agreement) with TDF Infrastructure.
• Advising the lenders to TDF Fibre on its acquisition and plateform financing.
• Advising a corporate on the potential acquisition of XPFibre.
• Advising Meridiam on the financing and refinancings of the Allego group.
• Advising the lenders on the refinancing of Aéroports de Lyon group.
• Advising Tikehau Investment Management on its joint-venture with Total Energies Marketing Services for the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Advising the lenders on the financing of the bid of Meridiam and CDPQ for the acquisition of the Saur group.
• Advising Meridiam and the Casino Group on the creation of a joint venture for the design, construction and operation of a network of 80+ charging stations for electric vehicles on sites throughout France.
• Advising Meridiam on the financing of the partnership with Carrefour group, for the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations across the Carrefour group in France. 
• Advising Novawood, Novacarb and Engie Energie Services on the financing of the construction, operation and maintenance of a 14.6MW biomass cogeneration plant in Laneuveville-devant-Nancy.
• Advising the lenders to Meridiam on the financing of the construction and operation of a 64 MW wood biomass power plant at the industrial production site of Swiss Krono (France).
• Advising Meridiam on the financing of the Agrimaine Méthanisation project, a flagship agricultural biogas plant in Mayenne, France.
• Advising SWISH, a company specialized in the management of charging stations for electric vehicles in the B-to-B segment, in connection with its equity and quasi-equity financing round, provided by a fund managed by RGREEN INVEST.
• Advising Epopée Gestion on its equity and quasi-equity investment in electric vehicle charging solutions operator Qovoltis.

*Pauline advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.