Italian legal advisers braced for slowdown in deal work as national debt crisis drains corporate confidence

The Italian legal market is bracing itself for the full impact of the country's debt crisis, as new Prime Minister Mario Monti comes under pressure to bring Italy's finances under control.

Italy's borrowing costs for 10-year bonds this month hit 7%, a major problem given that the country needs to refinance around €200bn (£170bn) in maturing debt by next April.

With Monti, who replaced Silvio Belusconi earlier this month (13 November), gearing up for a week of meetings on new austerity measures and controlling debt levels as Legal Week went to press, partners said clients were pulling deals until there was more clarity.

Bonelli Erede Pappalardo managing partner Alberto Saravalle commented: "Obviously the mortality rate for deals is higher during difficult times. A number of transactions remain in the pipeline, and I am relatively confident that they will be completed. What happens next depends on whether there will be widespread confidence in the remedies to the euro crisis."

Latham & Watkins Milan finance partner Andrea Novarese commented: "We haven't seen any deals taken off the table completely yet but they are becoming increasingly difficult to close. Purely domestic practices are going to take a hit."

Practice areas least likely to be negatively affected by the uncertainty, according to partners, include restructuring and energy, as well as M&A.

Hogan Lovells Italian managing partner Leah Dunlop (pictured) said: "As well as the enormous pile of corporate debt that needs refinancing, there has been a huge devaluation of Italian-listed companies, so we are likely to see more activity on the stock exchange as investors with cash look to acquire under-valued companies."

Simmons & Simmons Italian corporate head Andrea Accornero added: "We are seeing a different deal flow to that we would have seen five years ago. We don't see many typical leveraged finance acquisitions any more; we're seeing more joint ventures and restructurings. It is a lot more difficult, but there is still work. Hopefully it will continue."

Large deals so far this year include French luxury group LMVH's €3.9bn (£3.4bn) acquisition of Italian jeweller Bulgari in March, which saw Bonelli advising the buyer and Chiomenti advising the target.

Since coming to power, Monti has named a 17-strong technocratic cabinet made up of non-politicians, including lawyers Paola Severino and Antonio Catricala.

The Government is set to impose a new austerity package to get the country's debt under control. Measures include cuts in central government expenditure, tax and welfare reform.

Chiomenti partner Filippo Modulo added: "The new Government will strengthen the credibility of the Italian economy. It will require a huge amount of effort to impose these austerity measures but the Italian economy deserves a growing path which should be triggered by several key reforms that the Italian Government is likely to enact."