Roberto
Bruno

Mr. Bruno also has significant experience with cross‑border public and private merger and acquisition transactions as well as private equity transactions. In addition, he provides clients with tailored and strategic U.S. law advice on a broad range of legal issues, including available alternative structures for potential securities and M&A transactions, compliance with U.S. reporting obligations and the U.S. tender offer rules. Mr. Bruno works for a diverse client base on matters in Europe (primarily Italy), the United States and emerging markets.

Mr. Bruno’s notable transactions include representing:

High-Yield Debt

• The initial purchasers and the lenders in significant high-yield debt and other leveraged financings in connection with, among others:
  • Rossini’s (majority‑owned by CVC) public‑to‑private takeover of Recordati, one of Italy’s largest leveraged buyouts at the time, and its subsequent refinancings;
  • the acquisition by EG Group, the convenience retailer group, of FuelCo in Australia and Certified Oil, Fastrac and Cumberland Farms in the United States, as well as its more recent amend and extend and full bond refinancing;
  • PAI Partners’ acquisition of Pasubio, the Italian leather processing company, from CVC;
  • the Issa brothers and TDR Capital’s acquisition of ASDA, the UK retailer, from Walmart;
  • Permira’s acquisition of Golden Goose, the Italian luxury sneaker maker, from Carlyle; and
  • the creation of the SisalPay Group.

M&A

• Peugeot in its $50 billion merger with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis;
• Brembo and Campari in their respective redomiciliations from Italy to the Netherlands;
• Luxottica in its $49 billion combination with Essilor; and
• Newcrest in its A$28.8 billion acquisition by Newmont.

Equity Capital Markets

• Ariston in its Rule 144A/Regulation S IPO and concurrent listing on Euronext Milan;
• Campari in its accelerated bookbuilt offering of ordinary shares and concurrent convertible bond offering as part of the financing of its acquisition of Courvoisier;
• Juventus FC in its capital increase in the form of a Regulation S rights offering; and
• Grinta in connection with its accelerated bookbuilt offering of ordinary shares of Moncler.

In addition, over several years in private practice, Mr. Bruno has represented the issuer, the underwriters or the initial purchasers in financings for AXA, Banco Popolare, British American Tobacco, Cabot, Carrefour, Cineworld, DiaSorin, Enel, Eni, IWG, Lagfin (the controlling shareholder of Campari), Platin 1426. (a Blackstone special-purpose vehicle that holds a controlling interest in Schenck Process Holding), Sappi, Gruppo SEA (Società Esercizi Aeroportuali), Smurfit Kappa, Space Holding, Sunrise Communications, TIM and The State Treasury of the Republic of Poland, among others.

Mr. Bruno has been recognized for his work in capital markets by The Legal 500 UK and IFLR1000.

Mr. Bruno was born in Amantea, Italy. He received an LL.B. summa cum laude from Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS) Guido Carli in Rome in 1994, an LL.M. in International Business Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1996 and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 1997. From 1997 to 2008, he was associated with U.S. law firms in New York and London. Mr. Bruno joined Cravath in 2008. In 2012, he left the Firm to become a member at a U.S. law firm in London and, in 2017, he became a consultant at a multinational investment bank. He rejoined the Firm in 2018 and was elected European counsel in 2021.