FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Fernand Arsanios, Delphine Guillotte, Guillaume Chaboureau, Houda Idaroussi and El Sayegh, King & Spalding
request of the debtor. In the case of approval, credi- tors that, in the context of the conciliation proceedings provide new money, goods or services designed to ensure the continuation of the business of the debtor (other than shareholders providing new equity in the event of a capital increase), will enjoy priority of pay- ment over certain creditors in subsequent insolvency proceedings (see 7.2 Waterfall of Payments ). 7.5 Risk Areas for Lenders In insolvency proceedings, creditors may be required to accept debt rescheduling and write-offs as part of the restructuring process. Furthermore, since 2021, creditors can qualify as dissenting creditors if they do not belong to a two-thirds majority class of affected parties or if they are part of a junior class subject to a cross-class cram-down. Project finance activity in France remains robust, driven by a solid banking sector and active govern- ment involvement, particularly through public-private partnerships. The most active industries utilising pro- ject finance include renewable energy (wind farms (onshore and offshore) and solar PV projects), infra- structure (such as transport and public facilities) and telecommunications. New types of projects are also gaining ground, including electric vehicle infrastruc- ture, hydrogen production, and data centres pow- ered by artificial intelligence. The AI Action Summit of February 2025 highlighted France’ attractiveness for major infrastructure projects for the development of artificial intelligence, in particular through the estab- lishment of data centres. 8. Project Finance 8.1 Recent Project Finance Activity Overall, the environment for project finance remains favourable, but recent political instability could poten- tially challenge this dynamic. 8.2 Public-Private Partnership Transactions In France, public-private partnerships are primarily categorised into concession agreements and part- nership contracts, both of which are governed by the principles of public contract law and codified in the French Public Procurement Code.
• Concession agreements –a public entity entrusts a private partner with the execution of work and/or the operation of a service in exchange for the right to operate the work or service. This includes public service delegation contracts, where a local author- ity entrusts a private partner with the management of a public service. The private partner, also known as the “ concessionaire ”, bears operating risks, as its remuneration comes from the users of the public service and is therefore tied to market fluc- tuations. The concession offer and the negotiation process must comply with specific requirements. In particular, the public entity’s decision to grant a concession must be based on non-discriminatory criteria. Once concluded, the concession agree- ment may be modified during its execution under specific conditions, such as when additional work or services become necessary. • Partnership contracts –a public entity entrusts a private partner with a global mission that may include the construction, transformation, renova- tion, dismantling or destruction of work, equipment or intangible assets necessary for providing a pub- lic service or fulfilling a general interest mission, as well as all or part of the associated financing. A key distinction from concession agreements is that, under a partnership contract, the public entity compensates the private partner by paying a rent in exchange for the execution of the agreed-upon mis- sion. For both partnership contracts and concession agree- ments: • the private partner may, under certain conditions, claim compensation for expenses incurred if the contract is judicially cancelled or terminated as a result of recourse lodged by a third party against the contract; and • the public entity is required to make the “essential data” from partnership contracts and concession agreements freely accessible. The French Supreme Administrative Court ( Conseil d’Etat ) recently introduced important developments regarding public-private partnership contracts. In particular, it ruled that a public entity has the right to
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