Gide Loyrette Nouel ("GLN" or "the Firm") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Eszter Kamocsay-Berta, partner in charge of the Budapest Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice group, and of Ákos Kovách, lawyer in charge of the Competition & Regulatory and M&A teams, as the new Heads of the Firm's Hungary office. The appointments are effective as of September 2012. The office will nonetheless remain under the supervision of François d'Ornano, who is returning to Paris.

Dr. Eszter Kamocsay-Berta joined GLN Budapest in 2011, and was appointed as local partner at the end of May 2012. She is a recognised international expert in the energy and infrastructure sectors, and is trusted by multinational enterprises when structuring their investments in Hungary. Dr. Eszter Kamocsay-Berta is a top-ranked lawyer in these fields in the various international legal directories, and is a member of AmCham's Energy & Environment Protection Committee.

A member of the Paris and Budapest Bars, Ákos Kovách joined the Firm in 2010. He has over ten years' experience in all fields of antitrust and competition law, as well as in M&A. He has advised several foremost international corporations in cross-border M&A transactions, and regularly represents his clients in proceedings before the Hungarian Competition Authority. Additionally, Ákos has acquired significant expertise in distribution matters, having advised clients on the compliance of their distribution systems with the relevant EU legislation. He also has unique experience in EU regulatory matters and regularly represents clients before the European Commission.

Partner François d'Ornano took charge of Gide Loyrette Nouel Budapest in 2009, after having opened and successfully headed the Firm's subsidiary in Belgrade for five years. Over the past three years, he has played a lead role in restructuring the office to face the severe local economic crisis, all the while strengthening the Firm's growing presence in the region. As part of the Firm's natural rotation policy, François will return to GLN's headquarters in Paris to focus on real estate law, his original field of expertise. He will reintegrate the Firm's Real Estate Transactions and Financing practice group, one of the leading real estate teams in France with some 40 specialist lawyers, including eight partners. He will nonetheless continue to oversee the work of the Budapest office, placing emphasis on strengthening the Office's weight in the various countries of the region where the Firm is not directly established (such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and countries of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).

Francois d'Ornano commented: "These appointments are not only a recognition of Eszter's and Ákos' skills and expertise, but also highlight the importance of our Projects, M&A and Competition offerings as the key development priorities for the Budapest office. I am very attached to the development of the Firm in Central and Southeastern Europe, and I am confident in Eszter's and Ákos' complementary abilities, as well as in those of our local teams, to assist our clients in successfully bringing to fruition their investments projects in Hungary and the surrounding region the office acts in."