David Freedman advises on securities and financial services law, public company M&A transactions and infrastructure projects, with a focus on cross-border operations involving France. He is the author of numerous articles for various publications — including Bloomberg Law Reports, Complinet, Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report and World Securities Law Report — on the modernization of the French financial and securities markets and the implementation of European Union securities and financial services legislation in France.

Practice Focus

Mr. Freedman has acted for American, European and Middle East companies and financial institutions on capital markets operations, financial services regulations, merger and acquisition transactions and employee equity plan offerings. He also has experience advising US and European issuers, private equity firms and hedge funds in connection with offerings, purchases and sales of securities and disclosure obligations under the EU Market Abuse, Prospectus, Takeover Bid and Transparency Directives.

Representative Legal Matters

• Advised Philip Morris International Inc. on its March 2008 listing on NYSE Euronext in Paris simultaneously with its NYSE listing, the first listing on NYSE Euronext in Paris under the exchange's Fast Path listing rules.
• Advised NYSE Euronext in connection with the Fast Path listing of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. on NYSE Euronext in Paris in April 2008.
• Advised Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and Weatherford International Ltd. on their Fast Path listings on NYSE Euronext in Paris, respectively in April and October 2009.
• Advised KIT Digital, Inc on its successful dual listing of common stock for trading on the Prague Stock Exchange in January 2010. 
• Advised Kuwait Petroleum Corporation on the EUR55 billion exchange offer for Aventis by Sanofi in 2004 and the private placements totaling EUR4.8 billion of the Sanofi-Aventis shares KPC received in the offer.
• Advised a large number of NYSE and NASDAQ-listed companies on offerings of equity compensation plans to their French and European employees.
• Counseled Suez Environment in connection with financing and project agreements related to its water and wastewater projects in the Philippines, Argentina, Indonesia and other counties around the world.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association - Section on Business Law & International Law
• International Bar Association - Committee on Banking Law
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York - European Affairs Committee

Admission

U.S. Supreme Court~United States (1990)
Paris~France (1990)
New York~United States (1987)

Education

Columbia University  (J.D.) (1985)
Northwestern University  (B.S. cum laude) (1981)