France

Banking and finance

The banking team is led by Alain Levy, Gwenaëlle de Kerviler and Olivier Tordjman and in late 2013 expanded with the hire of Linda Bessa, an associate with a background in Stephenson Harwood and Norton Rose Fulbright. The firm’s biggest market is in acting for borrowers on LBO financings and in the context of M&A transactions, as well as in turnarounds and specialised financing.

Among recent work the firm advised Mezzaneurs (Tikehau Investment Management) on the LBO financing from a pool of banks with Crédit Lyonnais as agent for TCR Capital’s acquisition of Alkan in February 2014. 

Another deal saw the firm represent Indigo Capital on the financing from BNP Paribas, LCL and Banque Palatine of an LBO spin-off in July 2013. 

M&A 

The firm’s corporate practice covers M&A and private equity and is led by a team of six partners: Alain Levy, Bernard Ayache, David Ayache, Gwenaëlle de Kerviler, Olivier Tordjman and Sandrine Benaroya. Arguably the firm is best known in upper mid-market transactions. 

Representative deals on the M&A side including advising French flagship department store Printemps on its acquisition of Place de Tendances from TF1, Biotech international on its carve-out and sale to the Wright Medical Group and Mid-cap equity investor Verdoso on its acquisition of Finarge 11 (a company specialising in modular partitions) from Groupe Lafarge. All three deals were closed in late 2013. 

The firm has been active on the private equity side. A team acted for Qualium on the sale of retails textile company Carré Blanc to Nixen in late 2013 and Bpifrance on its LBO acquisition with Activa Capital of Nexeya from Nextstage and BNP Paribas. 

The team also won numerous mandates in the growth capital field and in one deal assisted FCDE on its acquisition of raw materials company Plastibell from Aquasourca and its minority shareholders. 

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency practice remained unchanged in 2013-14 under the leadership of Olivier Tordjman, on the restructuring side and Denis Salama, on the insolvency side. The arrival of Stephenson Harwood associate Linda Bessa in late 2013 will create more capacity and depth in the restructuring team. The restructuring side of the practice draws on support from other corporate finance lawyers.

Key deals included representing Bridgepoint on the restructuring of French-publisher and information provider Groupe Moniteur, which it acquired in 2006 with alternative debt provider Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). In 2013 the group went through its second refinancing in three years.

Banking and finance

The firm’s banking team remained unchanged through 2013-14 under the helm of dedicated banking partners Sylvie Perrin (who leads the finance practice), Guillaume Ansaloni, Jonathan Souffir and May Jarjour, who made partner in January 2013. Over the past year the team won panel appointments from new clients HSBC France, RBS and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and continued to be most visible on asset and project finance deals.

“I really enjoyed their capacity to handle a heavy situation,” says a client who worked with a team led by Jarjour. The client says it is “their efficiency, their availability and last but not least the quality of their work which impressed me”. Clients in general rate the “availability” of the firm’s lawyers.

In terms of asset and equipment finance, over the past year the office continued to act for Schoeller Arca Systems on the cross-border financing and refinancing of the acquisition of equipment and moulds used in the manufacture of reusable plastic containers.

Over 2013-14 the team also handled a number of confidential transactions, among them advising a syndicate of banks on financings to borrowers in the real estate, luxury goods and transport sectors, as well as handling various deals in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Elsewhere, the firm was advising a bank on a project to develop schuldscheine (German debt instrument) style structures and documentation.

Along with banking, project finance is arguably one of the firm’s most prominent practices. The team remained unchanged through 2013-14 and continues to be led by a core of banking and finance partners (Sylvie Perrin, Guillaume Ansaloni and May Jarjour) and public administrative, public-private partnership (PPP) and tax specialists (Frédéric Destal, senior counsel Arnaud Troizier and Franck Bauchet).

The firm has been particularly active in renewable energy, energy and public infrastructure projects. For example, since 2013 the team has been working with a French bank on finance packages for a series of four projects, two for biomass power generation plants and two wind farms. The projects have an aggregate value of €180 million. The office was also instructed by regional development bank on the financing of several solar plants in southwest France.

Elsewhere, the firm was advising a French bank in relation to financing of a PPP project for the heating network of a city in central France. In one disclosable deal the team acted for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Société Générale in relation to financing the construction of the Troissereux by-pass. The initial investment is €62 million.    

Capital markets

The capital markets practice is active across both the debt and equity spectrums. Since 2009 it has been the sole advisor to UNEDIC, the French institution responsible for the national unemployment insurance scheme, on its bond-refinancing programme. UNEDIC made six debt issuances worth €5 billion in 2013 under an existing EMTN programme.

In other work the firm was advising a client in relation to an accelerated bookbuilding process by a beverage company structured as a €128 million block trade. A French multinational industrial company in relation to updating its base prospectus also instructed it.

M&A

The corporate practice has remained stable throughout the year and is led by a group of dedicated M&A partners that include Jean-Christophe Amy, Gilles Gaillard and Stéphanie Roy. Recent direct changes to the core M&A and private equity teams saw Charles Moulette make partner in January 2014 and Nicolas Chazarain make senior counsel.

According to a client who engaged the firm in an acquisition of a group of service providers in the energy sector: “De Gaulle provides high level services both in terms of technical competencies and reactivity. Their approach remains discrete enough not to create the kind of disturbances in negotiation processes that some ‘stars’ from some law firms tend to generate”. The client worked with Gaillard and Chazarain. A funds client rates the firm as “technically good”.

In significant deals the team advised one of three sellers on a cash and stock-financed acquisition of the French flight system manufacturer PGA Electronic for €22 million and the managers of AID on the repurchase of 100% of AID’s share capital from Omnicom.

In 2014 the firm was also busy advising a private equity firm active in the luxury hotels sector on a potential investment in partnership with a global private equity fund. In other examples it acted for a drinks producer on the sale of a subsidiary to a northern European group and represented PMG (Plastiques de Mitry Grandjouan) on a €12 million LBO by one of its founding partners and Vivalto Investment Fund.

Restructuring and insolvency

After a busy year working on preventative restructuring cases and handling a steady stream of recovery plans on behalf of debtors the firm enters the table. The core team is made up of partners with a number of disciplines, among them Henri-Nicolas Fleurance, Valérie Lafarge-Sarkozy and Charles Moulette (who made partner 2014), for corporate and financial restructurings, Didier Bruère-Dawson, who acts on the contentious side of insolvencies and restructurings and David Dumarché (who made partner in December 2013) and Thierry Gillot for labour law issues.

In 2014 the firm was advising the regional council of an overseas French territory in relation to sauvegarde (safeguard) proceedings effecting the holding company of a project sponsor for a telecoms infrastructure project. Also overseas, a team represented a French projects company in a series of disputes that led to receivership and subsequently a continuation plan.

The office also assisted an insurance and reinsurance brokerage in relation to sauvegarde proceedings on five real estate projects in a French overseas territory. Meanwhile domestically it acted for a top French bank on the bankruptcy of a French metallurgy company.

Banking and finance

The team grew in 2013-14 with the addition of two associates (Natalia Muradova and Guillaume Danays) and had an active year working on regulatory and compliance matters, acquisition financings, advising insurance companies and brokerages and representing private equity firms on investments.

One foreign client for real estate finance transactions is “highly satisfied with the service provided by Field Fisher”. The client recommends Hélène Lefebvre and adds that the firm is the “same quality as others but [gives] more personal attention”.

In recent representative deals the firm advised recently a German bank as arranger of a financing for the acquisition by a German fund of a property in Paris and represented a French bank on a financing for another fund’s acquisition of two properties in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The team also undertook work for Goldman Sachs International relating to securities lending in the insurance sector. 

M&A

The corporate practice is focused on private equity work with a core of dedicated partners in Philippe Netto, Jean-Baptiste Van de Voorde and Christopher Mesnooh. The team has also seen some growth at mid-level with the additions of one senior associate (Thibault Chareton) and three associates, however on the flip side it lost two senior associates.

Representative deals include advising property maintenance company VOA (Groupe Eratome) in relation to a majority LBO worth €15 million in July 2013. The team also won a series of instructions from a French asset manager in an investment into a healthcare company and on two secondary LBOs in the real estate sector.

The firm also acted for a French private equity fund on its sale of a hotel management company.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency team continues to be led by the highly regarded Bruno Paccioni, supported by a team of associates.

Among its recent and more significant cases the team was advising a real estate client on a mandat ad hoc (special mediation) court approved debt restructuring and divestment of assets. It was also acting for a global private equity client on a debt restructuring related to one of the markets biggest LBOs. The latter was one of a series of LBO restructurings that the firm worked on.

Elsewhere, the team represented a conference and events furnishings company on its insolvency proceedings and, similarly, acted as counsel on the insolvency of a real estate company.

Lacourte Raquin Tatar is historically focused on real estate work and in March 2013 it made bid for a more prominent position in the M&A market with the recruitment of three corporate partners from Gide Loyrette Nouel: practice head Serge Tatar, Nicolas Jüllich and Renaud Rossa. The team joined existing M&A partner Cyrille Bailly. In sector terms the firm is well placed for real estate, telecoms and transport and counts among its clients SNCF, Orange and Vinci Immobilier. 

M&A

Since the addition of the Gide Loyrette team in March 2013 the firm has enjoyed a higher market profile in M&A.

According a client who worked with the team for a cross-border joint venture and other matters including governance, finance and contracts in the transport sector, the office has a “high level of expertise for legal and financial topics” and is “able to bring all types of assistance to its customer”. Among the skills picked out are “expertise”, “European experience and knowledge” and a “deep understanding of railway services topics”. 

In representative transactions the team advised French rail operator SNCF and its subsidiary Thalys, the second international high-speed service after Eurostar, on the formation of a new Belgian entity with Belgian National Railways (SNCB). The deal will see Thalys transferred to a newly formed entity held 60% by SNCF and 40% by SNCB.

In another deal, the firm advised the Stonesoft McAfee group, the result of McAfee’s 98% acquisition of Stonesoft in 2013, on the French aspects of its €15 million post-acquisition corporate restructuring.

In other work, it acted for a European listed company on its acquisition of a controlling stake in a beverages company and represented a listed European commercial real estate company on the formation of a joint venture worth €900 million in relation to a public tender for a real estate development in Europe.

A different type of transaction saw the firm assist a development bank on a significant share capital increase.

McDermott Will & Emery launched its Paris office in May 2011 to focus primarily on cross-border M&A, tax, competition, employment, litigation and regulatory law. The office’s core strengths are in LBOs and M&A.

In general the office reflects the firm wide focus on corporate. Practice head Jacques Buhart is admitted in Paris and Brussels and other key partners include Jonathan Wohl, Thibaud Forbin and Bertrand Delafaye. In 2013-14 the firm increased its partnership with the promotion of Nicolas Lafont, who previously worked at the European Commission, and recruitment of Emmanuelle Trombe from Dechert.

M&A

Mcdermott has grown steadily since its inception and in January 2014 added Laurent Ayache from Weil Gotshal & Manges as of counsel, while in April 2014 Emmanuelle Trombe joined as a partner from Dechert. Trombe has a particular expertise in the pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare industries.

Clients praise the team led by Buhart for its “wide experience of serving different businesses” and Buhart for his “ability to gather exceptional teams and individuals for the needs of his clients”.

In highlight deals the office represented Lone Star on its acquisition of the Coeur Defense properties, a luxury office complex in Paris. The transaction, related to one of the biggest restructuring and insolvency cases on France over the last couple of years (that of Coeur Defense), was closed in March 2014.

Redlink is an M&A and private equity firm with a particular industry focus on media, e-business, hi-tech and biotech companies. The team acts primarily for SMEs on all manner of corporate work, including equity capital markets transactions. The key partners are Hervé de Kervasdoué, who is New York and Paris qualified and joined from Nixon Peabody in 2012, and Emmanuel Porte, who is a member of the France Biotech, the French biotech association. Key clients include M6, Qatar Sports Investment and Primexis.  

M&A

There were no changes to the team over the past year. Among its deals, the office advised a development capital investor on the sale of a 35% stake in a technologies group and acted for Groupe Berger on the sale of its Air Berger B-to-B scent diffusion system activities to US company Scentair.

Another case saw the firm assist StartEQ on its €2 million acquisition of Cinemur in July 2013.

M&A

Scotto & Associés’ core practice is private equity, where it excels in advising management on LBO transactions, corporate matters, capital markets and tax. The firm moves up in the rankings this year in reflection of its market position for management roles in private equity and its strong flow of instructions off a 2014 trend, which saw numerous private equity exits through IPOs and high yield financed LBOs. In January 2014, the team added associate Vincenzo Feldmann from Paul Hastings.

“Excellent knowledge and understanding of corporate and fiscal matters,” says a client, who adds that Lionel Scotto Le Massese is a “strong negotiator” with “unparalleled alignment of interests with his client”. One client favours the firm for its “true degree of independence, coupled with sharper knowledge on specific private equity and LBO matters”, while others say the team is “excellent” and has “broad experience of market practices”. 

The team acted on some of the market’s biggest deals. In one example, it was advising the management of Vinci Park throughout the entry into its share capital by Ardian and Crédit Agricole Assurances; a deal worth €1.96 billion. Another high profile transaction saw the firm represent the management of Nocibé (a perfume and cosmetics group) on the €540 million acquisition by private equity fund Advent International of the group via Douglas Holding. 

In two final representative cases, the team acted for the management of Kerneos on its sale to Astorg for €610 million in March 2014 and assisted Elior’s management in relation to a €4 billion restructuring of its management package prior to an IPO process.

M&A

Skadden Arps saw one change in 2013 with the retirement of corporate and tax partner Christopher Baker but otherwise the team remained stable. The office has continued to be active as a lead office for M&A deals and as a support on international transactions.

The team acted for SCOR on its acquisition of 100% of Generali US Holdings, which owns Assicurazioni Generali's life reinsurance operations in the US, for a cash consideration of $750 million. The deal, completed in October 2013, included the acquisition of the entire share capital of Generali US and its subsidiaries, including Generali USA Life Reassurance Company, and the recapture of retrocession agreements between Generali USA and Generali.

Another large deal saw the team advise minerals company Imerys on its proposed $1.6 billion acquisition of bentonite manufacturer Amcol International Corporation. After a bidding war Imerys pulled its offer in March 2014.

In another case the office represented UNIQA on the sale of a portfolio of 54 European and US private equity funds, including direct fund interests, secondary funds and funds of funds. The process was completed in December 2013. 

Ydes Avocats’ corporate department is dedicated to M&A and private equity. Within private equity, the team primarily focuses on venture capital and growth capital, meanwhile its corporate client base as a whole comes from shareholders and investment funds, followed by target companies and management teams. The key names in the firm are Paris-based partners Olivier Lopez and Patrick Gentil.

M&A

Ydes Avocats joins the tables for the first time. The practice rose in prominence when in September 2013 it recruited a new partner in Olivier Lopez from Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Among its notable deals over 2013-14 the office acted for Vente Privée on an investment into the company by Qatar Holding and represented another client on its acquisition of a majority stake in a company that provides ticketing services. The firm also handled M&A transactions in the luxury goods sector and into an SPV established to build and maintain prisons in France.

Banking and finance

Pierre Descheemaeker, Valéry Denoix de Saint Marc and David Malamed lead the three-partner banking practice. Malamed joined from Weil Gotshal & Manges in January 2014 and brought with him considerable corporate and leveraged finance expertise. In total, the partners have French, US and German bar qualifications. 

The team remained stable over the past year and won instructions from new clients including Veolia, Safran and Total.

The banking team has been active on behalf of corporate clients and borrowers, winning various mandates from a Brussels-based company, among them a syndicated term loan and revolving facility secured from a group of nine banks in order to finance general corporate activity. 

Lender-side mandates saw the firm advise a UK bank on a financing for the acquisition of a group of companies owned by a UK holding company. It also assisted Swiss-bank UBS on a €220 million debt restructuring of the Paris commercial building Rive Défense. Another restructuring deal had the team represent the Coordination Committee (CVC, Park Square, Avoca, Crédit Suisse, CQS and Carlyle) on the €1.8 billion restructuring of the Mediannuaire debt. Mediannuaire is owned by KKR and Goldman Sachs and was originally established to purchase the beleaguered PagesJaunes Group from France Telecom. 

Capital markets 

The firm’s capital markets team remained unchanged under Gilles August, Pierre Descheemaeker and Valéry Denoix de Saint Marc. The firm’s expertise in this area is primarily on the equity side and often comes into play in relation to public M&A deals.

M&A 

Corporate is arguably the firm’s strongest area, for both M&A transactions and private equity. The team has grown over the previous year with the additions of partner David Malamed from Weil Gotshal & Manges in January 2014 and of counsel Julien Wagmann from Linklaters in September 2013. The firm has also been trying to develop its related white-collar crime and litigation teams. 

The office has a strong roster of corporate clients that includes Orange, The Klesch Group, Calida Holdings, Air France and GIAT Industries and in early 2014 it advised The Klesch Group on the sale of beleaguered vinyl products company Kem One, which had a turnover in 2013 of €800 million, to Alain de Krassny and OpenGate Capital. 

More recent deals (late 2013) saw the firm assist Japanese wine and food business Nakashimato Co on its acquisition of an 80% stake in Everget Capital Group, owner of Caves Legrand and Vins Rares Peter Thustrup. The deal valued the company at €16 million. It also advised Axa Private Equity-backed Bio Alfras on its acquisition and subsequent corporate and debt restructuring of French medical pathology group Biomnis. 

Elsewhere, the team advised Covéa Group company MMA IARD on its acquisition of a majority stake in Medical Insurance Company (MIC), an Irish company specialised in professional liability insurance. The transaction was driven by regulatory requirements and closed in late 2013. 

A private equity deal saw the firm act for Siparex, Arkea, Capital Investissement and Unexo on the acquisition of a minority stake in management consultancy Nadia Group as part of a management buyout.

Banking and finance

Following its merger with Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) in 2013 Dentons is still in the process of developing and recruiting. The office’s banking partnership has remained stable over the past year with Jean-Marc Allix and Philippe Max at the helm and the team added a new associate in Bérénice Combette from Bird & Bird. Its key areas remain corporate and acquisition finance, asset and real estate finance and energy finance, although the lawyers all have broad practices. 

“Very satisfactory,” says a manufacturer in relation to advice as a borrower on a number of lending contracts. Another manufacturing client recommends Max and rates the firm for value for money, when compared to some of its peers.

Over the past year the office has handled considerable work for French rail network operator SNFC. In other work it advised car parts company Faurecia on a €123 million financing from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to fund research, development and production activities in Poland, Morocco, Russia and Romania. Another significant deal saw the firm act for a private equity fund on a mortgage financing for the acquisition of an office building in Paris.

In the acquisition finance space, the team advised Crédit Lyonnais (LCL) and Caisse d’Epargne on the €20 million senior financing of a LBO which saw Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Socadif and BNP Paribas Développement take a minority stake (along with the funding shareholder and the management) in home food delivery group Star's Service.

The projects practice relies on the office’s banking and finance expertise along with support from its public law practice, led by partner Marc Fornacciari.

Over 2013-14 the team handled some large scale infrastructure projects in France, among them advising consortia of lenders on a public-private partnership (PPP) hydro project and a motorway by-pass project, and on the other side of the table acting for several sponsors in relation to a university project and a large road construction project.

Other deals saw the office work on a prisons redevelopment, several university campus construction projects and other real estate developments.

M&A

By mid-2014 the firm’s M&A and private equity department had settled to a team of ten partners, following the arrival of Ramin Hariri from Fidal in December 2013 and departures of Johannes Jonas and Muriel Goldberg-Darmon to Cohen & Gresser and DLA Piper, respectively, in early 2014. Hariri specialises in natural resources, infrastructure and regional work in francophone Africa. The firm holds its place with a strong track record of deals.

“Very professional,” is the view of one international manufacturer who worked with a team led by Olivier Genevois. If anything, the office has particularly strong profiles for energy sector work, life sciences and mid-cap private equity.

Highlight deals included advising Rio Tinto Alcan on its disposal of two aluminium rode wire industrial sites to German group Trimet Aluminium in December 2013 and acting for Total E&P on the sale of a 15% stake in its Congolese exploration and production subsidiary Total E&P Congo to Qatar Petroleum International for $1.6 billion.

Outside energy, the firm acted for Natixis on its acquisition of Swiss company Euro Private Equity, which advises pension funds on investments in private equity and infrastructure, and assisted Pfizer on the sale of a manufacturing site located in Amboise (France) to Fareva.

In the private equity space, a team acted for Bridgepoint on its acquisition of Polish company Dr Gérard, a subsidiary of LBO France portfolio company Poult Group and advised investment fund Etoiles SCR on its acquisition of a stake in On Entertainment.

Banking and finance

JeantetAssociés saw no changes in its banking team over 2013-14 and continues handle all manner of financing work under the helm of partners Jean-François Adelle, Guillaume Berruyer, Thierry Brun and Martine Samuelian. As a stalwart of the French market the firm counts many of the big French banks, as well and foreign senior and mezzanine lenders, as clients. The department also has a very strong practice in financial litigation, regulatory and compliance.

Over the past year the team has been working on instructions from Unicredit Bank, in relation to structuring a short term lending platform, and from a US finance institution on governance matters, issues related to its compensation policy and compliance with the Capital Requirements Directive IV.

Capital markets

Frank Martin Laprade leads the firm’s capital markets practice, which counts among its partners head of the Moroccan desk Laurent Sablé. The team as a whole is more focused on equity deals.

Among its work, in late 2013 the firm advised financial services company Kepler Cheuvreux in relation to a contingent equity line by Alternext-listed Carmat. In early 2013 the office also handled a series of mandates for Euronext-listed Société de la Tour Eiffel on a three-year contingent equity line with Kepler Capital Markets backed by the issue of warrants and for Yorkville on a capital increase programme launched by green energy company Global Bioenergie.

In a final example, in February 2013 the team assisted Euronext-listed EuropaCorp on a €30 million capital increase.

M&A

The firm’s corporate partnership has remained unchanged, with Philippe Portier, Yvon Dréano, Thierry Brun, Philippe Matignon and Nicolas Partouche at the helm. In January 2014 the firm also added two partners through the promotion of Anne Toupenay-Schueller and Vincent Netter.  

In highlight deals, in December 2013 a team advised Trimet Aluminium, which has EDF as a minority shareholder, on its acquisition of two production plants in France (Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Castelsarrasin) from Rio Tinto Alcan. Earlier in the year the firm had also acted for Caterham Cars on a joint venture project with Renault to produce sports cars at Renault Alpine’s Dieppe site. The deal included an acquisition of shares in Société des Automobiles Alpine Renault.

On the private equity side, the office assisted LBO France on the sale of the Mazarine Group of advertising and luxury products companies to a private equity fund controlled by Fondation Capital. It also represented the Swedish private equity held company Hoist Technology Group on an acquisition of Sistema Holding from several investment funds, among them TCR Capital, 123 Venture and Arkea Capital.

Banking and finance

The banking practice continues to build its reputation in asset, equipment and energy finance in both the domestic market and in emerging jurisdictions. Key partners remain Christine Ezcutari, Paris office head George Paterson, aviation finance and leasing partner Marc Hamilton and energy lawyer Anne Lapierre.

“NRF's shipping finance team's dedication and high standards in completing whatever was required to succeed closing was remarkable,” notes a client. Another client says the office is “more proactive” than some others.

The pick of its work saw the firm advise Bourbon on the sale and lease back of 51 vessels in a deal worth $2.5 billion, marking the largest sale and lease back for ships in France. Furthermore the deal involved seven jurisdictions.

In another notable deal the firm advised a European bank on the structuring and implementation of a three year supply chain financing program and acted for a French bank in relation to an ECA-backed financing to a Latin American company to fund the supply and delivery of equipment. Another lender side role saw the firm represent a pool of banks on the financing for the construction of the cruise ship Le Soleal by Fincantieri. The ship will be part of Compagnie du Ponant’s fleet.

The projects team saw no big changes in 2013-14 and continues to be led by Anne Lapierre, Poupak Bahamin, Arnaud Bélisaire and Alain Malek, among others. Notably, the team has significant experience on the non-finance aspects of project development and is particularly strong in energy and natural resources.

Over 2013-14 the office acted for the Wind Development Fund Management, an investment fund owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation, on the sale of four onshore wind farms located in northern France and with a total planned capacity of 72MW to a holding company owned 50/50 by EDF EN and Mitsubishi subsidiary Diamond Generating Europe. The team also advised the client the financing and due diligence of the project documentation for the lending banks (HSH Nordbank and NordLB).

Also in the renewable energy sector, the team acted for closed-ended investment fund The Renewable Energy Infrastructure Group (TRIG) in relation to its £300 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange and advised CA-CIB, Mizuho Bank, Société Générale and SMBC Europe on financing two project companies holding solar projects in Yonne and Eure-et-Loir totalling 56MW. The projects are owned by the EDF EN and Diamond Generating Europe joint venture.

In Morocco, the firm assisted the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) on the completion of phase 1 of the Ouarzazate solar complex and was instructed on the next phase.

M&A

The firm’s corporate practice is led by Poupak Bahamin and consists of a team of seven partners with, among other things, substantial experience handling deals in Africa. There were no team changes over the past year but the office did pick up new clients in GDF Suez, Kingdom Africa Management and Texas Instruments.

“NRF was both practical and efficient,” says one client, who adds that: “they understood the particular nature of the transaction and provided a fine balance between legal intricacies and global understanding of our objectives”.

Notable deals saw the firm represent a new client in US-listed language learning company Rosetta Stone on its acquisition of Tell Me More. The office worked alongside its Houston team to close the deal in December 2013. The firm also advised Harkand, a subsea maintenance group controlled by Oaktree Capital Management, on its acquisition of the core assets and businesses of Veolia Marine Services in the US in August 2013.

Elsewhere the office won several mandates from Axa France and in one deal advised the client on its acquisition of a minority stake in Net Insurance, an Italian company, which handles Italian employee loan repayment schemes, as well as other payment protection insurance products.

Proskauer’s corporate practice handles both M&A and private equity transactions. Two partners, Delia Spitzer and Caroline Chabrerie, lead the team. Spitzer heads the M&A practice while Chabrerie leads the private equity and fund formation practice. The office has a mix of domestic and international clients. 

M&A

Over 2013-14 the team saw one change in the promotion of Stéphanie Martinier, who handles M&A and private equity deals, to senior associate. Aside from this the team remained unchanged.

On the M&A side the firm advised corporates on a variety of matters, Among them, the firm represented a French group on establishing a US subsidiary, acted for a borrower to secure a number of corporate refinancing facilities and assisted a European paper manufacturer on the restructuring of its US subsidiary. In 2014 the firm was also working on a potential acquisition in the aerospace sector.

In private equity, the team advised Five Arrows Secondary Opportunities III, OFI Private Equity and LGT Capital Partners on a significant secondary market mandate involving the purchase of a portfolio of investment fund interests from a leading financial institution through dedicated French private equity houses. The Paris office led the deal, which reached financial close in August 2013.

The team continued to represent BPI France on several transactions throughout the year, primarily on corporate restructurings, and in December 2013 it completed corporate restructuring for French aeronautics company Figeac in preparation for a listing on the NYSE Euronext.

Over the past four years and since the arrival of current managing partner Alain Gautron the Paris team has grown dramatically from four lawyers to 27 lawyers, in the most part handling banking and finance. The team has seen an accompanying growth in its volume of work and turnover.

Banking and finance

The team’s core strengths are in tax lease financing and asset finance, particularly ship and aircraft financing, although the office is also busy on banking regulatory, project finance, syndications, debt restructurings, fraud and litigation.  

Edward Campbell leads on many of the aircraft financings while Alain Gautron is top of his field in ship financing. Stéphane Salou has also been recognised for tax lease financing work. The team continued to grow in the past year, welcoming former general counsel of CA-CIB Michel Bauer in September 2013 and former Clifford Chance partner Yann Beckers in January 2014. Beckers specialises in banking and asset finance and will lend support to the office’s smaller corporate team. 

Current work saw the firm advise Bridgepoint and a group of banks on the refinancing of cruise vessel L’Austral by way of a tax lease and act for CdP on the acquisition of luxury cruise vessel Soléal through a SACE set-up tax lease and an Italian-French financing structure. The deals marked the first French tax lease of a cruise vessel and the first SACE export credit coupled with French tax lease.

The team also handled a commercial financing by DVB Bank and the National Bank of Kuwait of three new Airbus A320 for long-standing client Jazeera Airways and worked on sub-leases of A320 aircraft to NAS Air and TAP Portugal. 

Banking and finance

Gautier Chavanet, who has a background in Société Générale Corporate and Investment Bank, Clifford Chance and Linklaters, continues to lead the firm’s banking practice. The team remained unchanged over 2013-14.

Clients in general praise the firm for “professionalism”, “negotiation skills” and for its “ability to find the right compromise to move forward”.

The practice appeared on a number of notable lending transactions over the past year, among them advising Bank of China on financing for the acquisition of the Waldorf Astoria Palace de Versailles by Financière Immobilière Bordelaise (FIB) from private investment fund Blackstone. The deal closed in February 2014.

In another deal, particularly significant for the Spanish market, the firm acted for NH Hoteles on the French aspects of its debt refinancing, which was arranged through a €200 million club deal, a €250 million convertible bond offering and €200 million high yield issuance. Since 2012 the firm has also been acting as counsel to insulation specialists Pavatex, which works with wood, on the construction and operation of a factory.

Capital markets

Gautier Chavanet leads the capital markets practice and it is in this area, particularly on debt deals with a public element, that the firm has made its biggest inroads into the market.

“I have worked with Bignon Lebray on several transactions where they were acting as issuer's counsel to local authorities in the context of establishment or updates of EMTN programmes,” says one client, who states that “the team led by Chavanet is very responsive and has excellent skills and knowledge in public law and capital markets related work”.

Representative deals include advising a French region as issuer on two private placements worth €20 million and acting for the City of Marseilles on the implementation of a €700 million EMTN programme and initial €30 million issuance under the programme.

The firm also worked for a the Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg on establishing its €300 million EMTN programme with a €65 million drawdown and advising the Department of Bas Rhin on a €750 million EMTN programme and €10 million schuldscheine (German dent product) issuance. The firm undertook similar work for the Department of Val d’Oise, the Department of Puy de Dôme and the Department of Bouches du Rhône.

M&A

CGR Legal is a focused M&A and private firm. Partners Philippe Raybaud and Florence Trognon-Dumain, who are supported by tax specialist Bertrand Galvez, lead the office. The firm has both public regulatory expertise and private deal experience along with a particular niche specialisation in the energy and cleantech sectors.

In 2013, 70% of the firm’s cases had an international angle and its membership of JCA International and association with Moroccan firm Benseghir & Partners support the firm in its cross border activities.

The firm wins significant mandates in the energy sector. In one such example it worked alongside Allen & Overy to advise GDF Suez in its strategic partnership with Crédit Agricole Assurances to operate in France’s onshore wind energy sector. The deal saw Crédit Agricole Assurances act through its subsidiary Predica to take a 50% stake in the GDF Suez subsidiary Futures Energies Investissement Holding (FEIH).

The office also advised H2Air on the sale of five wind farm-operators with a total capacity of 45MW to German infrastructure fund KGAL.

On the private equity side, the office acted for DIF Infrastructure III on its investment in a portfolio of six rooftop solar plants with a capacity of 24MW to be installed on Casino supermarkets and warehouses in southern France. In the transaction, DIF Infrastructure III acquired 85% of the shares from Green Yellow.

The team also assisted Kallista in its acquisition of Picardy Wind, which operates two wind farms with a capacity of 23.5 MW.

SBKG & Associés was established over 20 years ago and now counts 32 lawyers in offices in Paris, London and Marseilles. The corporate practice, which operates on M&A and private equity transactions, is led by a team of five partners: Sophie Courqueux, Séverine Elie and Julien Mayeras, and department heads David Gordin-Krief and Philippe Schmidt. In sector terms the office has been especially active in commercial real estate M&A transactions.

M&A

Over 2013-14 the team was very busy for one particular alternative investment fund, handling a series of five acquisitions of real estate assets in France, Spain, Germany and elsewhere.

Other work saw the firm advise a real estate client on the sale of two assets in early 2013 and an IT software company on a €3 million investment and reorganisation and a separate €17.5 million acquisition.

Taylor Wessing has an active corporate practice under Nicolas de Witt and Gilles Amsallem, who head the capital markets and M&A practices, respectively. They are flanked by partners Laurence Lapeyre, Neal Lachmany and Alfred Fink. The team advises public companies, underwriters and sponsors, as well as regulatory and tax angles, while on the M&A side it acts on all manner of transactions, including LBOs, MBOs, owner buy-outs (OBO) and private equity.

Banking and finance

Although more focused on M&A, private equity and the equity capital markets, the team does handle finance deals on behalf of lenders and corporates and in one example in January 2014 it advised HSH Nordbank on financing for three wind farms in Burgundy, France, consisting of 13 turbines and a combined capacity of 26.65 MW. The deal also involved several German law issues.

Capital markets

Under Nicolas de Witt the capital markets team remained unchanged through 2013-14. The team is particularly active on the equity side. Recent representative deals included advising listed data software company Pros Holdings NYSE in its €24 million public tender offer for all shares and warrants of Cameleon Software, a French company listed on the Configure Price Quote (CPQ) market of the NYSE Euronext Paris.

Another example had the firm represent rapid moulding technologies specialist Roctool on its transfer to NYSE Euronext Paris’s Alternext market. The process included a €3.6 million fundraising from an institutional investor pool. The team also worked on a $25 million rights offering by a financial sector client.

M&A

The corporate department has been stable over the past few years under Gilles Amsallem and particularly active in small-to-mid cap private equity deals and LBOs. “Taylor Wessing assisted with the translation and negotiation of various M&A transactional documents,” says one client, who judges that the team “set a very high standard of professionalism during our transaction”.

In highlight roles the firm acted for the management of biotechnology company Cisbio Bioassays on a €25 million acquisition by funds managed by Argos Soditic, Cisbio Bioassays and with Belgian company IBA. It also advised a group of UK and Belgian investment funds in relation to a capital raising exercise and acted for independent power producer Novawatt on a €7 million equity raising to strengthen its equity funds.

Banking and finance

Michael Foundethakis and Cyril Tour continue to head a banking department known for cross-border work, especially in areas such as syndicated lending, trade and export finance and acquisition finance in emerging markets. The team also sits on the panel of three of the biggest French banks. 

According to a client on a syndicated loan the team has “swift and prompt delivery [and] professional service”. “Absolutely fantastic, very responsive to [our] queries, very business and commercial oriented and always to protect the interest of [the bank],” says a bank client, who adds that the team is “available at all hours with prompt and accurate advice”. 

Clients in general like the “better partner attention” and “comparatively low fees” the firm offers compared to some Tier 1, 2 and 3 rivals, however one notes that it is deal dependent: “The Paris English law team is fairly small, so we might hesitate to use them for deals requiring a big team but would prefer them for smaller ‘bespoke’ deals requiring ‘out of the box’ thinking”. 

Among its highlight deals the office led teams to advise Commerzbank and Standard Chartered Bank on two separate syndicated financings to South African Investec Bank totalling $1.2 billion. The two banks were coordinating large multi-national groups of syndicated lenders. 

The office also advised Commerzbank as agent of a US-European banking syndicate on a €100 million term facility to the Turkish development bank TSKB. 

A final case saw the firm office assist Raiffeisen Bank International as agent of a syndicate of predominantly Russian banks on a dual-tranche trade-related financing of The Bank IBA Moscow.

The project finance practice is best known for its cross-border work in emerging markets. The team itself remained stable over the course of the past year and was especially active working on ECA-backed facilities.

Among its most interesting work in 2013-14 the office advised mandated lead arrangers Natixis and KBC Deutschland on a €140 million Euler Hermes ECA-backed hybrid project financing to New World Resources (NWR) for the design and construction of a mine in the Czech Republic and the supply of mining equipment.  

In 2014 the firm was also acting for African Export-Exim Bank (Afrexim) on a multi-lateral ECA-backed refinancing deal for a corporate entity based in Zimbabwe: the Africom Zimbabwe Fibre Optic Network Project. Adding a layer of complexity, in order to minimise political and currency exchange risks the deal was structured offshore. 

Capital markets 

As with banking, the capital markets team is led by Michael Foundethakis and Cyril Tour. The office saw no significant changes over 2013-14 and it kept appearing on significant deals in the securitisation field in particular, as well as on ABS (asset-backed securities), RMBS (residential mortgage backed securities), covered bond and receivables transactions.

Among its highlights, the firm advised the French branch of a German company as originators and arrangers on the securitisation of a pool of loan receivables. It also acted for Société de Financement Local (SFIL) and the Caisse de Refinancement Local (CAFFIL – formerly of the Dexia Group) on the restructuring and unwinding of €6 billion of Belgian and Italian ABS programmes in order to comply with European Central Bank (ECB) requirements.

M&A 

The seven-partner M&A practice moves up into Tier 4 this year following a strong track record of deals over the past year. In mid-2013, the firm also promoted two to partnership in Alain Sauty de Chalon and François-Xavier Naime.

Among the team’s most significant deals it advised Qatari private investor-controlled Divine Investments (DISA) on its €1.7 billion acquisition of French flagship department store Printemps Group. DISA acquired the stakes owned by Borletti Group and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management.

The firm also advised Boston Scientific on its $375 million acquisition of CR Bard Inc’s electrophysiology business in a deal that spanned 25 jurisdictions and assisted Swiss industrial group Sulzer on the divestment of its Sulzer Metco division to German company Oerlikon, a deal that exceeded €1 billion.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency team draws on the expertise of the firm’s banking, finance and corporate lawyers. The team saw one change in 2013 with Aurélie Boulbin making partner. A client for a debt restructuring says: “We have received precise, timely and helpful advice, they have also managed efficiently the marshalling of advice from other lawyers worldwide”.

The firm’s strengths are in the restructuring of cross-border debt, whether it is banking debt, capital markets or structured finance. One of its highlights for instance was advising Société de Financement Local (SFIL) and the Caisse de Refinancement Local (CAFFIL – formerly of the Dexia Group) on the restructuring of the ownership of cover pool assets (loans and asset-backed securities) worth €6 billion and owned by CAFFIL. The case involved restructuring and unwinding Belgian and Italian asset-backed securities (ABS) programmes.

The firm was also advising Natixis and a syndicate of banks on ‘amend and extend’ provisions relating to a €140 million ECA-backed loan to New World Resources (NWR) for the import of mining equipment from Germany to the Czech Republic and the subsequent restructuring of the ECA Loan. The work also comprised a potential restructuring of the remaining €50 million through a bond issuance.

Banking and finance

In January 2014 Bird & Bird hired Willkie Farr & Gallagher counsel Driss Bererhi as partner in charge of its banking practice. Bererhi joins counsel Sophie Nicolas and two associates. Although a small team the office works in parallel with its international network and it has won mandates from some big clients over the past year, particularly in relation to projects.

In one straight bank lending deal, the firm acted for Ardian (previously AXA Private Equity) on a €150 million revolving credit facility.

Projects is one of the firm’s most active and biggest areas and is led by two partners: Sophie Pignon and Driss Bererhi. The office has advised clients including Vinci Concessions, SMBC, Bouygues Bâtiment Ile de France and Spie Batignolles.

The team has been acting for Vinci Construction France in relation to the École Centrale project in Paris and the University of Grenoble regarding the partnership agreement for the construction of the new centre for human and social sciences. Another big domestic deal in 2014 has the firm advising Bouygues Batiment Ile de France, DIF and CDC on the public-private partnership (PPP) project for the renovation of the Ministry of Equipment’s south face of the Grande Arche de la Défense.

The office has also been handling international projects and was recently acting for Martinique regional council in relation to a Martinique public transport project and Syvade on a Guadeloupe waste treatment platform management public-private partnership (PPP).

Capital markets

On the capital markets side the firm is has debt expertise under partner Driss Bererhi. In one notable deal, the firm advised a French real estate company on a private placement financing and the negotiation of the corresponding financing documentation.

M&A

The four-partner corporate team handles M&A and private equity deals and is led by Arnaud Larrousse and Gildas Louvel. Over 2013-14 the team remained unchanged.

Highlights included advising high-quality audio company Dolby Laboratories on its acquisition of digital cinema video playback solutions Doremi Labs for $93 million in February 2014 and acting for Crédit Immobilier de France on two sales: a sale through auction of its majority shareholding in credit institution SOFIAP (credit institution) to La Banque Postale and the investment arm of HSBC; and second sale of its insurance brokerage activities to Verspieren. The former deal included a securitisation and renegotiation of a shareholder agreement with minority shareholder SNCF.

Elsewhere, the firm represented SFR in respect to setting up a joint venture with Bouygues Telecom for the execution of a RAN sharing agreement and DACP in its acquisition of T Systems France, a part of Group Deutsche Telekom. T Systems has a turnover of €200 million.

Restructuring and insolvency

The key contact for restructuring and insolvency in the office is Bertrand Biette, who is also head of the firm’s international restructuring and insolvency group. The team remained unchanged over the past year and continued to work on all aspects, from restructuring to bankruptcy and insolvency, claims, contentious cases, liquidation, administration and receivership.

Recent client wins include Mitre Capital Partners, Virgin Enterprises Limited, TomTom and Novia Systems, while the firm has also advised a number of creditors to bankruptcy proceedings, including in the cases of KemOne and Aria.

In representative deals, the firm advised Mitre Capital Partners on the sale of loan receivables worth €14 million and guaranteed by Lavagnac Company projects in order to stave off insolvency proceedings and Virgin Enterprises Limited (VEL) on the redressement judiciaire (reorganisation) proceedings of Virgin Stores in France to file a declaration of claim. The latter included advising VEL through the judicial sale process of Virgin Store’s activities.

The firm also represented Go on Media Radio on the restructuring of its debts within a sauvegarde (safeguard) context and was acting for CIL France on the restructuring of its debts through insolvency proceedings, and SAPE Group on its offer to buy CIL.

Capital markets

The Debevoise & Plimpton team is historically very strong in the French market and it continues to maintain a reputation for high quality in all manner of corporate work, particularly capital markets. Key partners in the team are Pierre Clermontel and Raman Bet-Mansour. Up-and-coming international counsel Philippe Tengelmann supports them.

The office often pairs up with its network offices in London and elsewhere (Bet-Mansour splits his time between Paris and London) and it has recently represented clients including Rexel and Ray Investment, Alstom, Artémis and New York Life Investment Management, as well as a number of French banks. The team has been stable for a number of years.

Over 2013-14 the firm has been working with Ray Investment on a series of share sales transactions, including a €640 million sale of shares in February 2013, a €500 million sale in June 2013 and a €520 million sale in August 2013. All in all it helped Ray Investment, whose shareholders are funds controlled by Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Eurazeo, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, reduce its stake in Rexel from 53% to 25%.

Another large deal saw the firm advise Kering on an issuance of €500 million 2.5% bonds due in 2020. The offering comes under an EMTN programme established in 2009. Similarly the firm advised Alstom in the establishment of €2 billion EMTN programme and €500 million offering under the programme.

Another notable example saw a team advise CA-CIB, Natixis and Société Générale as joint-bookrunners on the €200 million convertible bond offering by listed care company Orpéa in July 2013. The bonds have a 1.75% yield, due 2020 and were listed on the Luxembourg exchange.

FTPA focuses on small cap (sub €100 million) private and public M&A, private equity and corporate restructuring work with a team of six partners led by Nathalie Younan. The team has a mix of foreign experience particularly in the US, Middle East, Scandinavia, Colombia and Italy. Key clients include Andromède, Canal + Events, Novapost and Sagemcom.

M&A

Over 2013-14 the firm maintained a solid team and no changes. Clients were also positive about the firm: “high quality of information and services provided,” says a client for general financial and corporate work. According to another client for a share purchase the firm provides “excellent global legal advice”.

In highlight deals a team advised Alternext-listed pump manufacturer Gevelot on its takeover of the Canada-based oil and gas pump maker Kudu Industries for €94 million. The deal is arguably the firm’s most significant in recent times.

In other work, the team acted for internet company Novapost on a share capital increase, Thule Group in respect to the French aspects of the sale of its European trailer business and YKF on a share capital increase to the investors of private equity fund Audacia.

Elsewhere, the office acted in a significant deal in the car sector when it advised SKF on the sale of its metallic rods business in France and Washington (US) to Precision Castparts for €40 million.

Banking and finance

Kramer Levin continues to uphold a good reputation for financial regulatory and financial litigation. One recent client had an “extremely positive” experience with the team and rates the lawyers as “professional, knowledgeable and reactive”. “Trustworthy [with] high capabilities in my field,” says one banking client. Jean-Pierre Mattout and Hubert de Vauplane lead the banking team.

Exemplary work over the past year saw the firm advise IDMidCaps on the creation of a new rating agency for French SMEs called Nota Bene Corporate. It also acted for clients including a French private bank and financial entity on drafting finders’ agreements. In another deal, the team advised KissKissBankBank on establishing the crowd funding platform HelloMerci.

Capital markets

Jean-Pierre Mattout and Hubert de Vauplane continue to head the firm’s capital markets department. Clients again here characterise the team as “professional, knowledgeable and reactive”. According to another client: “the high level of quality and consistency of information met my requests”. The client adds that the team, led by De Vauplane, showed a “high level of availability”.

In January 2014 the office added a new associate in Valentine Baudouin from Citibank EMEA (Geneva).

The team handles all manner of debt and equity transactions. In July 2013 it advised Fromageries Bel on two schuldscheine (German debt instrument) loan issues worth €140 million and $110 million, marking the company’s first ever such issues. In 2014 the firm was also assisting the banking arm of a retail company on its consumer contracts securitisation program.

Elsewhere, the office was instructed by a derivatives broker in relation to an ACP control procedure. Alongside this the firm has also been working on exchange traded fund matters.

M&A

The corporate team continues under the leadership of Christophe Gaschin and Antoine Paszkiewicz, with Yannick Olivier on the private equity side. “Very comprehensive and fast support,” says one client, recommending partner Alexander Marquardt.

The office undertook work for Bouygues Telecom in relation to the pooling of its mobile network with SFR. It worked on a series of deals for asset manager La Française, among them its signing of a strategic partnership with Tages Capital, its acquisition of Cushman & Wakefield Investors alongside Forum Partners and its joint venture with Inflection Point Capital Management.

Elsewhere, the firm acted for Aéroport Toulouse-Blagnac on the establishment of a joint venture for the operation of the Toulouse Francazal airport.

On the private equity side the firm advised Swiss private equity house Argos Soditic on its acquisitions of clinical drug company Cisbio Bioassays and subsidiaries and of industrial valve company Valco Group France and subsidiaries.

Restructuring and insolvency

Christian Orengo leads the four-partner restructuring practice. There were team changes over 2013-14.

Highlight cases saw the firm represent two banks in relation to the sauvegarde (safeguard) proceeding of a Guadeloupe-based Groupe Loret, an overseas telecom and car distribution and rental company. A team also acted as counsel to another bank client on the safeguard proceeding of financial holding company Sopalia.

Elsewhere, the office was advising a French bank as agent on the restructuring of a syndicated loan extended to metal waste recycling company SLG Recycling and advising the lenders in relation to the restructuring of fixtures and fittings company Rasec International. A team also represented a banking pool led by BNP Paribas on the sauvegarde proceeding of Caillé, a group of companies in La Réunion. Caillé focuses on the automotive, public works and wide-scale distribution sectors and is the second largest employer on the island.

Veil Jourde was established in 1990 and focuses on M&A, corporate and corporate-related litigation as well as having a strong and well-recognised restructuring practice. The focus areas reflect the practice specialisms of the two named partners, Jean Veil and George Jourde. Half of Veil’s practice is M&A transactional while Jourde’s practice covers restructuring and commercial litigation.

The last big move by the firm was in 2011, when it hired two restructuring and insolvency partners from former top tier R&I boutique Sonier & Associés. The partners were Bertrand Chauchat and Nassim Ghalimi.

Banking and finance

Veil Jourde handles all manner of work for corporate clients and this reached into projects. In one recent deal, a team advised Jacky Lorenzetti, the founding chairman of real estate company Terreis and president of Racing Métro 92 rugby club, in relation to the construction of a new rugby stadium: Arena 92 (Arena Nanterre – La Défense). The €351 million project will be in part funded by a €102 million facility from Natixis.

Capital markets

Although focused on corporate work the firm does win instructions from its corporate clients on all manner of deals, including debt and equity capital markets operations.

One such deal saw the firm act for ID Group, which owns various children’s brands, on two bond offerings worth €50 million subscribed to by two institutional investors and listed on the Luxembourg and Paris exchanges. The issuance will fund development projects. 

M&A

The M&A team is led by five partners who are active on both M&A and private equity transactions and over 2013-14 appeared on some high profile deals. In one example, a corporate, finance and public law team advised Vivendi in relation to the sale of SFR to Numéricable’s holding company Altice for €13.5 billion. The firm was one of a number of legal advisors to Vivendi and SFR.

Elsewhere, the team acted for EHDH-Eurotranspharma Group on its acquisition Geodis’ subsidiary Ciblex in May 2014, and worked on various deals for communications group Publicis, including its acquisition of Cortix, the sale of Fréquence médicale (a health media group) and acquisition of an 80% stake in ETO.

Restructuring and insolvency

Restructuring and insolvency is arguably what the firm is best known for. As of 2014, the team was led by a group of five partners, thanks to the addition through promotion in January 2014 of Yankel Bensoussan. Each member of the team handles both non-contentious and contentious aspects of restructuring and insolvency.

In one highlight and long-running case the firm has been working as counsel to Belvedere on the restructuring of €600 million worth of debt. The process was finalised in September 2013 following the sale of its Vodka Danzka asset, the approval of a continuation plan by the court of Dijon and the conversion by creditors of outstanding debt for stock in the company.

In another case, the firm was acting for BPI France on the restructuring of the Gascogne group, which needed to restructure debts worth €162 million. The deal was completed in April 2014. The firm was also involved in one of the market’s biggest restructuring cases, which was initiated in 2008. In the case, the team represented the receiver on the €1.3 billion sauvegarde procedure of the Coeur Défense, which was finally sold to Lone Star.

Capital markets

Samuel Pallotto heads the firm’s capital markets and public M&A practices. The team is most active on the equity side advising primarily private and public SMEs.

Highlights over 2013-14 saw the firm act for chemistry and biomass company Fermentalg on its IPO on the NYSE Euronext in Paris (Segment C) in April 2014, raising €40 million. Notably, the deal was completed in three months. In early 2014 the firm also advised Alternext-listed Theradiag in setting up an equity line from Société Générale, representing 9.9% of its share capital.

The firm has won several instructions from Natixis and in one deal in early 2013 advised the bank as lead manager and bookrunner to listed NYSE Euronext Paris (Segment C) company EuropaCorp on it €23 million capital increase.

M&A

The M&A and private team added a new partner through promotion in July 2014 with Alexandra Pottier, who focuses on private equity. Three partners now lead the practice as a whole. The firm has particular expertise in public M&A deals and in private equity.

On the private equity side, recent work saw the firm advise Demeter Partners on the €22 million sale of electronic systems company IES Energy to Eurazeo Croissance. The team also acted for vaccine developer Genticel and its founders on a private equity fund raising from the German fund Wellington Partners.

In another example the team assisted electrical heating and cooling specialists Brunet Group on a series of three acquisitions and e-commerce company Oxatis on a €3.5 million capital injection from Omnes Capital and A Plus Finance.

Notable public M&A deals included acting for Viveris Management on the €16 million sale of its 43% stake in Alternext-listed Phenix Systems to Nasdaq-listed 3D Systems. The firm also advised Aérowatt on the €36 million simplified takeover bid launched by JMB Energie.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm’s restructuring and litigation practice is led by partners Serge Pelletier and Philippe Brunswick. The team is experienced in mandat ad hoc (special mediation), conciliation, sauvegarde (safeguard), redressement judiciaire (reorganisation) and liquidation proceedings while the partners also boast backgrounds in audit and judicial receivership roles.

In representative cases the firm assisted Sequor Partners on its acquisition of Eurocooler and acted for Safig through its mandat ad hoc and subsequent administrative receivership and sale plan. The team also advised price comparison site Twenga on a safeguard proceeding and restructuring of debt.

Banking and finance

The firm made a decisive move to bulk up its banking practice in mid-2013 with the recruitment of David Blondel to head the team and real estate finance partner Henry Ranchon from Wragge & Co, along with a team of associates. In September 2013 they were then joined by of counsel Laetitia de Pellegars, a regulatory lawyer also from Wragge & Co who previously held senior positions in Edmond de Rothschild Banque and Swiss bank Lombard Odier. The new team has a real estate and renewables bias but handles bank lending of all types.

The team (with Franklin and prior to Franklin) has lots of experience advising Natixis, in particular, and other French banks and over 2013-14 worked on series of solid real estate facilities, including two refinancing packages, two syndicated loans and a commercial finance facility for various real estate activities. It also acted for another French bank on a €68.5 million syndicated facility to several retirement home companies to fund a share acquisition.

In other work, the firm advised a German distribution group on a sale of shares in two real estate investment vehicles and assisted a German bank on a secured senior facility to a global asset manager for a real estate financing. In the energy sector, the office represented a regional savings fund on a €55 million financing to the renewable sector.

M&A

Franklin’s corporate team has remained unchanged under the helm of Yam Atallah, Alexandre Marque and Mark Richardson. The firm had a strong year with some of its long-standing clients, such as Altice, being particularly active. The team moves into the private equity rankings and as whole remains one to watch, especially when it comes to TMT sector work.

The firm worked on a series of deals for Altice, including nine acquisitions and the December 2013 IPO of Numéricable. Among the M&A transactions, the team advised Altice on its acquisition of 100% of Orange Dominicana, a 40% stake in Belgium and Luxembourg telecoms operator Coditel, an 88% stake in Dominican Republic wireless operator Tricom and two acquisitions from Apax Private equity that comprised a 77% controlling stake in Outremer Telecom and 40% stake in Cabovisão, the third largest Portuguese cable operator from seller.

Other big deals outside the TMT sector saw the firm advise Precision Cast Parts on its acquisition of aerospace-fluid-fittings maker Permaswage Holding from private equity firm Bridgepoint for €600 million and Veolia Environnement on the divestment of its majority shareholding in renewable energy company Eolfi.

Banking and finance

The firm’s banking department was unchanged in 2013-14 and remains one of the most competitive general banking practices in the market. As would befit its international standing, the office maintains relationships with many of the top banks, French and foreign, active in the French market. The restructuring muscle of the firm is also a boon on debt deals.

This year the firm moves up a tier in reflection of its increased recognition in the market under partners Richard Jadot, Sabine Bironneau-Loy, Olivier Fille-Lambie and Michel Quéré.

Highlight deals saw the team advise Natixis and other lenders on a €92 million syndicated facility to finance the acquisition of an unloading point by COTSA (Cameroon Oil Terminal) in Cameroon and BNP Paribas, in a syndicate of nine banks, on an €80 million LBO financing to Babilou, which saw investment company Cobepa and Société Générale Partenaires enter into Babilou's shareholding while Alpha Private Equity Fund 5 exited.

In other work the firm acted for a US bank on a $218 million bond facility agreement, arranged with a double Luxco structure, to finance the acquisition of Imfp Services Holding. In another example the team represented Société Générale and other banks on a secured €870 million term and revolving credit facility to Axéréal and a €250 million credit facility agreement usable by way of promissory notes and guaranteed by FranceAgriMer.

Projects is another of the office’s core strengths and again the team teeters on the Tier 2 and 3 threshold. “Very good services, with excellent reactivity,” says a client in relation to a public private partnership (PPP) project. The team was unchanged under practice head Bruno Cantier and partners Ludovic Babin and Olivier Fille-Lambie.

Much of the firm’s work, undertaken for clients including the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Alstom Renewables, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the African Development Bank and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), remains confidential. The firm has handled a majority of international projects but also some notable domestic French infrastructure developments.

Recent highlights have included advising a sponsor on a renewables project in North Africa and acting on behalf of lenders in relation to financing for the construction, operation and maintenance of a power plant in West Africa. The team also represented the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and AFD on financing exceeding €300 million for the construction and operation of a new international airport in Dakar, Senegal.

Elsewhere, the office represented the AFD and CDC as lenders on a €78 million facility agreement with Martinique’s transit authority (Syndicat Mixte de Transport Collectif en Site Propre de la Martinique – SMTCSP) to fund a 22-year partnership contract between Vinci Concessions subsidiary Caraibus and the SMTCSP.

Capital markets

When it comes to debt and securitisation work the capital markets team is on the cusp of moving up. The practice as a whole is led by Sharon Lewis, Philip Boys and Baptiste Gelpi on the debt, structured finance and securitisations side, while corporate partner Jean-Marc Franceschi spearheads the equity division. Recent developments saw the firm add derivatives and structured finance lawyer Katia Merlini as of counsel from Simmons & Simmons.

Clients working on diverse matters such as a pan-European securitisation of trade receivables, a bond programme and a multijurisdictional reorganisation of regulated financial institutions are positive about the firm’s quality. According to one client who worked with a team led by Lewis, the office has “good experience” and is “responsive, concrete [and] solution oriented”. “I definitely recommended Lewis,” adds the client.

In late 2013 the team advised EDF on the first ever green bond issued by a corporate. The offering was worth €1.4 billion and will be used wholly to fund future renewable energy projects run by EDF Energies Nouvelles. While the firm won other large mandates from EDF, a different deal saw it act for Société Générale on three standalone issues, comprising a €50 million offering of credit linked notes due 2018; an issue by SG Option Europe of €200 million index linked notes due 2021 and guaranteed by the bank; and an issue by Société Générale of €100 million index linked notes due 2018.

In a significant equity deal, the firm represented biotech company Valneva on a €40 million capital increase fully underwritten by Société Générale and Crédit Agricole with preferential subscription rights, completed in 2013. The firm won the mandate after having advised Vivalis on its merger with Intercell to create Valneva in 2013.

In structured finance and securitisations, the office acted a counsel to Ford Credit (FCE Bank) on a €544 million securitisation of auto consumer loan receivables, originated by FCE's German branches. The deal was offered through a public term securitisation market and arranged by Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS. It marked one of only a few ABS deals since the financial crisis to offer mezzanine notes.

The firm was also assisting Société Générale as arranger and guarantor on a first of its kind issuance of structured fund-linked notes worth $400 million. The notes are linked to a pool of fund financing transactions consisting of variable funding notes, pre-paid forward contracts and credit facility transactions. The notes were offered under an EMTN programme and listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

M&A

The corporate team is managed by Jean-Marc Franceschi, Stéphane Huten and Xavier Doumen and took a small blow with the loss of Isabelle MacElhone to Reed Smith in January 2014. Overall however the firm moves up a tier in private equity off the back of market recognition and a consistent flow of high value deals involving private equity.

“The team was extremely reactive and able to provide cross expertise in M&A, tax and real estate,” says one client, who adds that the advice given is “business minded”. According to a renewable energy client, the firm “represents a better balance in terms of price versus service provided” than some competitors. A client who worked with Huten on a substantial project says: “this young partner is unbelievable. [He has a] perfect knowledge of the M&A mechanism [and] we are fully confident in his capacity to lead a deal for us. One of the future top three in France”.

In examples of work, the firm advised French biopharmaceutical Vivalis on its cross-border merger with Austrian vaccine-biotechnology company Intercell to create Valneva. It also acted for logistics group ID Logistics on its €129 million acquisition of CEPL, a French logistics provider specialising in automated solutions for retail order fulfilment. A high value deal saw the team assist EDF on the sale of a 49% stake in Stredoslovenská Energetika, the second largest electricity distribution and supply operator in Slovakia, to Czech energy fund EPH for €800 million.

Also in energy, the firm assisted Iberdrola on its sale of 32 operating onshore wind farms in France to a consortium of EDF Energies Nouvelles, asset manager of Munich Re and ERGO (MEAG) and GE Energy Financial Services.

In private equity, the office acted for Twenty-Two Real Estate Partners, a consortium comprising TwentyTwo Massena Partners and Noonday/Farallon Capital Management, on its acquisition of Financière SELEC from investment vehicles managed by LBO France and Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management's real estate investment business. The target value was estimated at €1 billion. In another example the firm advised the management of Theolia in relation to a €335 million LBO by Macquarie on the company.

Restructuring and insolvency

The firm’s restructuring and insolvency department is highly regarded and has been very dynamic over the past year under practice head Cécile Dupoux. “Excellent services with very good communication skills,” says a client off the back of a root and branch restructuring process, who adds that the “goals were over achieved thanks to the advice received”.

Clients characterise the team as “experienced”. The “restructuring team provided advice to us in the form of review of docs, analysis of possible scenarios and documents drafting in an extremely high profile French restructuring situation,” according to one client. “I was very pleased with Hogan Lovells’ quality of service,” says the client, describing the team as “both diligent and very knowledgeable”. “The interaction between their restructuring partner and banking partner is also functioning perfectly”. A finale client judges the firm as “on a par with Tier 1 and 2 firms”.

Recent activity includes representing creditors on a ‘friendly’ debt restructuring of a clothing group and acting for AVIC/Continental Motors on its acquisition of distressed target Reims Aviation Industries. Similarly, the firm advised Russian client Terwingo on its acquisition of the assets of steel cable manufacturer Sodetal, which was undergoing insolvency proceedings.

In another example from 2014, the team was representing TRW Automotive in the insolvency plant closure related to one of its French subsidiaries.

Banking and finance

The three-partner banking team under Mounir Letayf enters the ranking this year off the back of its work on corporate financings. The team’s core strength is advising borrowers, especially in leveraged deals, but it has made recent in-roads into lender side work and won some significant debt restructuring mandates.

In highlight work, the team acted for OpenGate Capital on financing for its acquisition of PVC manufacturer Kem One, which was under insolvency proceedings. The deal was worth €1.8 billion and was completed in December 2013. The office also advised investment fund Attestor Capital in relation to the restructuring of French water company SAUR and its holding company HIME. The LBO restructuring was part of an overall debt restructuring that helped the distressed entity halve its €1.8 billion debt.

A representative lender-side acquisition finance deal saw the firm represent Société Générale, CIC Lyonnaise de Banque and Crédit Lyonnais on LBO financing worth up to €50 million for the acquisition by IXO Private Equity of the Genex Group. On the borrower side the team also acted for SNAM in relation to financing of a €2.4 billion cross-border acquisition of Total’s gas transport and storage business Transports Infrastructures Gaz France (TIGF).

M&A

The firm’s corporate practice grew in 2013 with the addition of David Revcolevschi from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer early in the year and promotion to partnership of Etienne Mathey. Guillaume Kellner and Olivier Deren continue to lead the M&A and private equity practices. The firm moves up a tier in private equity to reflect of strong market recognition. After a strong year the M&A practice is also making a claim for promotion.

Highlight M&A deals saw the firm advise Italian gas transportation and storage operator SNAM, in a consortium consisting of SNAM, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, the Singaporean sovereign fund (GIC) and EDF, on the €2.4 billion acquisition of Total’s gas transport and storage business Transports Infrastructures Gaz France (TIGF) in southwest France. The deal was closed in July 2013.

In other notable transactions, the firm acted for Qualcomm Incorporated on its strategic alliance with Alcatel-Lucent to focus on very high-speed internet and cellular networks and assisted OpenGate Capital on its acquisition of Kem One.

In private equity, the firm acted as counsel to Astorg Partners on the sale of funeral services provider OGF to funds managed by Pamplona Capital Management. The deal marked the second largest LBO in the French market in 2013.

The team won a series of instructions from one of its core clients Equistone (and portfolio companies). Among the deals it advised Equistone and Céréa Capital on the LBO of Groupe Bretèche Industrie, an industrial supplier of equipment for manufacturing food, chemicals, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. It also advised portfolio company Unitheron on the acquisition of by pharmaceutical manufacturer Unither Group of the US assets of UCB Manufacturing Inc.

Restructuring and insolvency

The restructuring and insolvency team moves up a tier this year off the back of repeated instructions on high value restructuring deals, namely those of Insert, Kem One, SAUR and Coeur Défense. Lionel Spizzichino and corporate partner Guillaume Kellner are the practice’s key partners.

Looking at the firm’s roles, in the Insert deal it represented the outdoor marketing company on one of the first pre-pack reorganisations in France, launched after the company entered safeguard proceedings in 2012 and approved by French courts in early 2013. The firm subsequently advised Insert on its acquisition of Promap from the Mercuri Group.

In the Coeur Défense case, the team worked alongside McDermott Will & Emery to represent Lone Star on the restructuring of Coeur Défense, which amounted to the largest single real estate transaction in the country. Meanwhile in the Kem One insolvency the firm advised OpenGate Capital, which partnered up with investor Alain de Krassny to acquire Kem One.

Last but not least, the team acted for investment fund Attestor as one of the main creditors to of SAUR, the Société d’Aménagement Urbain et Rural, whose debt amounts to €1.8 billion. The case was the biggest ever lender-led restructuring in France.

Banking and finance

There were no changes in the firm’s banking practice under Pierre François over the 2013-14 period. In 2014 the firm was busy on a number of deals, among them advising an asset management firm on an LBO financing and assisting a UK-based bank on a large refinancing deal for a French removals company and acquisition financing.

Among its more recently closed deals, the firm represented SIG on a €100 million bond issue underwritten by Metlife and Pricoa through a private placement in the US. The deal was completed in October 2013.

M&A

The young Pinsent Masons corporate practice further developed in December 2013 with the arrival of Frédéric Ichay from TMT specialist Ichay & Mullenex. Ichay’s practice centres around M&A transactions in the telecoms and energy sectors in France, Africa and Asia.

In representative cases over 2013-14 the firm acted for Euronext-listed Aubay on its €12.5 million acquisition of Euronext-listed Aedian through the purchase of a controlling block followed by a mandatory takeover bid. The deal was completed in June 2013.

In the same month the office closed a deal for Kuwaiti investment firm North Africa Holding Company on its acquisition of Dutch company Assoufid. 

Restructuring and insolvency

Pierre Forget and Pierre François preside over an unchanged restructuring and insolvency practice. Over 2013-14, the office was primarily involved in cases representing corporate clients in distressed situations, liquidation and insolvency proceedings and restructurings. In one instance the team advised an Italian real estate company on a large debt restructuring prior to the sale of its French assets.

In another, the firm acted for a private equity house as a minority shareholder in a fashion label’s group debt restructuring. 

Banking and finance

The banking team in Watson Farley & Williams continued to grow in 2013-14 with the addition of senior associate Marie-Laure Brun, who joined in February 2014 from the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) legal team. Brun will add depth in general banking, projects, maritime and renewable energy mandates. Other notable developments saw the firm appointed to the global panel of Groupe Crédit Agricole and as a panel firm to European ECA agencies ECGD, Coface and Euler Hermes.

Over 2013-14, the team worked with a French bank on the financing of a large shipping vessel being constructed in Asia and on the sale of a vessel by Mediterranean owners, which involved the release of an existing security package and the unwinding of a French tax lease structure.

The office acted for another French lender on a loan restructuring to a shipping company and advised a European bank on financing for the construction of several renewable energy projects.

Alongside asset and renewable energy finance, projects is the firm’s core practice and receives strong endorsement from clients. According to one lender on a cross border France-Germany financing, the Paris team led by Laurence Martinez-Bellet is a “top-level project finance and debt team in Paris” with “strong experience and culture in renewables”. “Excellent lawyers,” says the client, who adds that they are “strongly dedicated to their clients and have excellent problem solving skills. [The] regulatory department and finance department are particularly good”. 

A lender-side client for a project finance transaction says the firm has a “large scope of specialities, good comprehension of the contractual risks and a diplomatic approach with the clients”. The client recommends Eric Villateau. It is “as good as top firms,” says the client.

In highlight deals, the office was acting for a lender on financing for the construction of seven solar plants in France and a German lender on the financing for the construction, development and operation of two wind farms in France. The office also acted for a German lender on financing for eleven further solar plants.

In a different type of transaction, the team was representing a consortium of project developers in relation to a tender for the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of an urban heating and cooling network in a French city.

The office also advised the Caisse d'Epargne Bretagne Pays de Loire and Crédit Foncier de France as lenders, and a consortium comprising Eiffage Construction, Orange Business Services, FIDEPPP2 and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations as sponsors, on a public private partnership project (PPP) for the design, conception, construction, operation and financing of infrastructure covering 34 sites and four buildings for the European University of Brittany.

The Paris office of US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges specialises in private equity transactions, public takeovers and reorganisations, restructuring, distressed M&A and banking and finance, and is considered among the most highly regarded French firms in these practice areas.

The only significant appointment at the firm last year was in the M&A department, where Yannick Piette was added from Freshfields in January 2015 as a specialist in domestic and cross border corporate transactions. Managing partner Stephane Chaouat remains at the helm of the fully integrated firm.

With Olivier Jauffret as head of the department, and James Clarke as the English-law qualified partner, the banking and finance department is making a mark in France and was involved in some high valued, interesting finance transactions throughout the last year. Representing sponsors, borrowers and lenders, the firm tends to focus on leveraged finance and acquisition finance.

As LBOs are currently booming in France, the practice is in a very good position. One example saw Olivier Jauffret advising private equity firms CVC and Vedici on both the refinancing of the LBO debt and the financing of the acquisition of Vitalia. The firm also advised the management and other investors in global veterinary health company Ceva Santé Animale, valued at €1.1 billion this was the first example of a covenant-lite loan in Europe since 2007.

Also active in the capital markets, the firm advised electronic payment company Atos in the €2.2 billion IPO of subsidiary Atos Worldwide in June 2014, the offering was well received and allowed the company to accelerate its development. The firm also advised GDF Suez through its IPO at the beginning of 2014. 

The five partner strong corporate practice is revered for its work in private equity matters. A notable transaction that was announced in June 2015 saw David Aknin and Arthur de Baudry d’Asson advise buy out company CVC Capital Partners in its acquisition of smartcard connector producer Linxens, from Astorg, in a deal reported to be somewhere between $1 and 2 billion dollars in value. Announced in May 2015, another deal had the practice advise on another high profile divestment by a group of private equity investors, as group 3i and other shareholders sold its stake in medical diagnostic company Labco to the fund Cinven for €1.2 billion.

One of the preeminent M&A practices in Paris, the department is involved in a large number of the most high profile transactions to come out of the jurisdiction in the last year, and boasts a client list including GDF Suez, Total and Casino.

Representative highlights include Arthur de Baudry d’Asson acting for construction company VINCI, in the part sale of car par operator VINCI Park to private equity firm Ardian and Crédit Agricole. The deal, closing in September 2014, was valued at €1.96 billion. Although currently pending, the department is advising French energy and infrastructure multinational Alstom with its €12.35 billion sale of its energy business to General Electric, as well as the subsequent launch of three joint ventures with the company.

2015 marked the retirement of founder Antoine Maffei, who alongside Charles-Henri De Pardieu will hold the title of honorary lawyer at De Pardieu Brocas Maffei. Only Thierry Brocas remains active of the three founding partners. Another long standing partner of the firm, Jacques Henrot, sadly passed away in September 2014. Initially brought in to create the real estate department in 1995, Henrot remained active as head of the restructuring and insolvency practise until his passing. Other movement saw Eric Muller join the firm from White & Case to sure up the corporate team.  

The firm receives plaudits from clients, “diligent” and “knowledgeable” says one well-known lawyer who has worked with the firm in Germany on a capital markets transaction. A client in the construction sector who worked with the firm on a PFI (private finance initiative) project describes the firm as “excellent, quick and reliable”. Referring to key partner Jean-Renaud Cazali, the same client labels him an “excellent lawyer, always available and (has) high levels of expertise. Excellent to work with, always seeking pragmatic solutions and has a great ability to convince his counterparties”. The head of restructuring and insolvency, Phillippe Dubois, is described as “excellent.” 

The firm are highly rated in the banking and finance sector, with activity in financing and regulatory work. The firm tends to act domestically for the major French banks in some capacity, in one instance advising a pool of banks with an acquisition and refinancing loan, an investment loan and a revolving loan, relating to the LBO of printing company Armor. Elsewhere, the firm advised Natixis and BNP Paribas as lenders in relation to the syndicated financing of the takeover of Dutch group Hertel by Altrad, valued at €500 million. 

Unlike other firms active in France, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei focus primarily on domestic projects, with a particular emphasis in the PPP (public-private partnership) sector. The firm has been involved in eight successfully closed PPP projects since the summer of 2013, in sectors including defence, transport, infrastructure and energy. One example saw Jean-Renaud Cazali advise Societe Generale and Banco Santander as lenders on the €192 million long term lease of the Grande Arche de la Défense. Other projects the firm was involved with include the extension of universities in Lille and Marseille.

Although not best known for its capital markets work, the firm does have some activity in the market. One case saw the firm advise Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank on the implementation of derivative products. 

In M&A the firm was involved in some large deals in the French market. Working with Clifford Chance, the firm advised Carrefour on a major deal in the real estate sector, setting up company Carmila which now owns 171 shopping malls across France, Spain and Italy, giving the spin off a portfolio value of €2.7 billion. In line with the market, the firm have increased activity in the private equity market, working both on the sale and buy sides. An exceptional example of this saw the firm advise a consortium of investors including the Le Mer family, Bpifrance, Arkea Capital Partenaire and others, in relation to the acquisition of the Sermeta group from its former shareholders, the majority of which were held by Carlyle, using an LBO.

With a dedicated team of four partners and seven associates, and a wider network of lawyers throughout the firm drafted in where necessary, the restructuring and insolvency department is firmly at the core of De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, and is the highest ranked of all departments within the firm. Active in restructuring, insolvency and dispute resolution, the firm had an active year despite a general slowdown in the area, acting on some significant deals working with clients such as Natixis, Crédit du Nord, Renault and Oaktree. In one notable transaction the firm acted for credit facilities Park Square, Oak Hill and Alchemy, among others, on the €2.8 billion debt restructuring of retailer Vivarte. 

The Paris office of global law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton did not undergo any significant changes in the last year, and maintains its excellent, stable market position. Other than the election of M&A and private equity lawyer Charles Masson to partner, the team remains the same. 

Unlike others in the market, the firm does not divide itself into separate departments, instead choosing to have one fully integrated team who are able to act on all aspects of a case. The strategy is in place to allow the team to offer a one-stop-shop, with a ‘big picture perspective’, and as such most of the work undertaken is spread across several practice areas accordingly. In spite of this the firm does of course have specialists, and boasts some of the finest lawyers in France. 

In financing, and in line with the current market, the firm has increased activity in areas including but not limited to, syndicated loans, LBO financing, public acquisition financings and structured finance, regularly acting on both the bank and the borrower side. Valérie Lemaitre represented the firm as it advised the Brazilian subsidiary of media company Vivendi, negotiating and realising an €825 million credit loan facility agreement for the company, Société Générale, BNP Paribas and HSBC France were arrangers in the deal. 

Cleary work on an extensive number of major global projects across the world and domestically within France, in sectors including oil and gas, telecoms, energy and infrastructure. The firm tends to involve itself primarily in the regulatory side of these projects, for example in Cameroon the firm is currently involved in the drafting of a PPP framework (public-private partnership) for a $1 billion 420MW hydroelectric power project, advising a consortium including the Government of Cameroon, EDF International, Rio Tinto Alcan and the IFC. 

Thriving also in capital markets, the firm has been involved in some momentous transactions in both equity and debt markets in the last year. Known more for its work in equity, the firm has advised the issuers on several big ticket deals. A noteworthy example saw the firm advise cable company Numericable Group on its €4.7 billion capital increase. This equity increase, the largest in France for years, part funded the acquisition of French telecom company SFR. In other impressive equity transactions the firm advised Worldline group in its two part IPO, a primary offering of €255 million and a secondary offering of €384 million. Elsewhere the firm advised on the €950 million IPO of credit insurance firm COFACE, alongside a guaranteed hybrid bond offering. 

On the debt side the Paris and New York offices of the firm acted for Banque Populaire and Caisse d'épargn in four note offerings in the US, at a principal amount of $4.5 billion. The firm also advised Republic of Côte d’Ivoire on both its initial $750 million Eurobond, and a second $1 billion sovereign bond, both of which were placed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. This sovereign bond, maturing in 2028, represents the longest maturity for a sovereign issuance on primary markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, other than South Africa,

The corporate department covering M&A, private equity, capital markets, financing and restructuring was involved in several of the most high profile transactions of the last year. At the core of the firm’s practice is its M&A work, and the firm is widely recognised as a market leader in the area. The firm was heavily involved in one of the highest value mergers in France of recent years, as French and Swiss cement companies Lafarge and Holcim combined in a €40 billion merger of equals. Elsewhere in M&A the firm represented Investindustrial, who, acting through subsidiary Global Resorts initiated an €800 million takeover bid for Club Méditerranée, in another of the jurisdictions most high profile cases. 

In private equity the firm represented a syndicate led by the TPG group through the sale of its French based assets and activities, valued at €3.55 billion. Following a similar move in Germany, partners Jean-Marie Ambrosi and Anne-Sophie Coustel advised from the firm’s Paris, Frankfurt and London offices on this transaction. The firm also acted for Ivanhoé Cambridge on its €1 billion investment with Blackstone in the debt of real estate trust Gecina, secured by shares in the company. 

Despite a general slowdown in restructuring over the last two quarters in France, the restructuring and insolvency practice at Cleary has maintained a decent position in the market. One notable mandate the firm was involved in was the $1 billion recapitalisation of entertainment resort EuroDisney, advising The Walt Disney Company through the procedure to improve the cash flow and reduce the debt of the company. The firm also advised Bpifrance, one of three shareholder of Sequana, in the financial restructuring of the group, involving the restructuring of its credit facilities and a capital increase.

The French office of Shearman & Sterling advises on French, US and wider international law. The team remains unchanged at partner level in the last 12 months and holds onto its healthy position in the market in its core practices of capital markets, M&A, private equity, banking and finance including project and acquisition finance, and restructuring and insolvency. 

The firm’s banking and finance department, headed up by partners Pierre-Nicolas Ferrand and Arnaud Fromion, specialises in leveraged and non-leveraged real estate finance, acquisition finance and project finance  with an emphasis on energy, and French unirate bond financing. Despite reported slowdowns in the financing sector, the firm was involved in some interesting transactions including the structuring and financing of the acquisition of Orange Switzerland by French telecommunications company Iliad, known as Free, for CHF2.8 billion (€2.5 billion). The firm, led in this instance by Arnaud Fromion working with partners in London, advised NJJ Capital as the main shareholder of Iliad in financing the purchase from Apax Partners.

In an example of unirate bond financing, the firm advised Ares Management as arranger and Ares Management and Avenue Capital Group as subscribers in the acquisition of Equity Group from World Freight Company, by Greenbriar. 

The projects team at Shearman & Sterling is globally integrated and works chiefly out of London, Paris and the US. As with other firms, the focus of the last 12 months has predominantly been projects in Africa, specifically in oil and gas, energy, mining and infrastructure, but the vast majority of their work remains strictly confidential.  

Shearman & Sterling have one of the most highly regarded capital markets teams in Paris, the firm is particularly active on the equity side and was involved in some of the largest IPO’s of the last 12 months. For example, Hervé Letréguilly was instrumental in advising IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), on its €1.3 billion IPO to the Euronext in June 2014. The highly complex deal was notable for being multi-jurisdictional, with listings on the Euronext in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, the deal consisted of public offering to investors in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, the US and other jurisdictions.  The fully integrated capital markets team are also active on the debt side; a highlight saw the firm advise a syndicate of banks with the issuance a two tranche issuance of OCEANE’s bonds for Alcatel-Lucent, the first €688 million tranche in 2019, with the second €460 million tranche maturing in 2020. 

On the M&A side the firm is active in large scale cross-border, domestic and public M&A transactions, as well as joint ventures and LBOs. In spite of a slow M&A market, the firm has been very busy over the last year and has had involvement in several noteworthy cases across the whole area of M&A. Acting for Jin Jiang International Holdings, the firm led by chief M&A partner Nicolas Bombrun performed a major transaction in the acquisition of French holding company Groupe du Louvre. The €1.3 billion process of purchasing the hotel company from Starwood Capital, a private equity fund active in the real estate sector, required the coordination of 11 foreign and French firms to perform due diligence on the assets alone, as well as requiring the full scope of Shearman & Sterling’s global reach to cover the cross jurisdictional nature of the deal. Another remarkable deal saw the firm’s Guillaume Isautier act on behalf of the purchaser on the near $4 billion dollar acquisition of 51% of Omnium Télécom Algérie, a subsidiary of the VimpelCom group, by Algeria’s Fonds National d’Investissement, the national governments investment agency. 

The restructuring and insolvency team at Shearman & Sterling work closely with the finance, bankruptcy, corporate, M&A and tax departments. After two years of significant activity on the market, 2015 has heralded a slowdown and this is reflected in the number of transactions for most firms.  Despite this, the team, led by Pierre-Nicolas Ferrand, has been involved in some of France’s largest cases of the last 12 months. The stand out case is the €1.3 billion insolvency proceedings of French appliance manufacturer FagorBrandt, the firm acting as debtor in one of the largest insolvency cases of the year.

The Paris office of US firm White & Case remained stable over the last year, with no significant partner hires or losses to mention. There was some movement within the firm in January 2015 however, Samir Berlat was appointed to partner and Julien Chameyrat to counsel, showing the firm’s continued commitment to growth in the jurisdiction. 

The banking and finance practice at the firm is particularly renowned for its expertise in acquisition finance, and during the last year has also been very active in major debt restructurings. In terms of debt refinancing, an area that is booming in France this year, practice head Raphaël Richard led the way as the firm represented Deutsche Bank in in the €770 million refinancing of the existing financial indebtedness of the Delachaux group, acting for the bank in both London and New York on its role as global coordinator, arranger, agent and security agent. In acquisition finance, the firm acted for the original mandated lead arrangers and the original lenders on Arkema’s €1.74 billion acquisition of glue manufacturer Bostik from oil company Total. In this particular case the firm acted on both the financing and the revolving credit facility refinancing. 

On the projects side the firm is led by partner Paule Biensan who has a raft of experience advising on global projects in a number of different sectors. A major highlight from the last year had the firm advising the financers of a major project in the healthcare sector in Adana, turkey. The €550 million PPP (public-private partnership) project - financed by a syndicate of financial institutions and banks including the IFC, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and BBVA - is the first of its kind in Turkey. 

Following significant changes in recent years to the capital markets group the firm continues to be a major player in the French market, and was active on several high profile equity, debt and structured finance and securitisations deals this year. 

On the equity side the firm is particularly strong, with involvement in some of the largest IPO’s, share capital increases, equity-linked offerings and block trades seen in the market last year. A highlight deal saw partners Thomas Le Vert and Severin Robillard advise Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan on the €1.1 billion IPO of catering company Elior, the largest offering on the Euronext Paris since 2009. 

On the debt side the firm acted on a number of EMTN programmes, standalone bonds, sovereign bonds, projects bonds and corporate hybrid bonds over the last year. In one notable deal the firm advised fast-food outlet Quick on its debut offering of €440 million secured notes due 2019, and a further €155 million unsecured notes due 2019, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan acting as joint global co-ordinators and book runners. Another interesting deal saw the firm council GDF Suez as issuer of green bonds worth €1.2 billion and €1.3 billion, the largest green bonds issuance to date in the market. On the structured finance and securitisation side, the firm advised BNP Paribas with its €560 million auto loan securitisation, the third by the bank since 2012, as well as Natixis on a €2 billion credit card securitisation programme for the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne.

One of the busiest French firms on the M&A market by volume, White & Case has been involved in a substantial number of cases over the past 12 months, advising on over 35 closed transactions. Practice head Hugues Mathez’s work with DIY retailer, Mr Bricolage, on its potential €275 million acquisition by Kingfisher, and on four separate disposals by Nestlé Waters are indicators of the volumes of complex corporate matters the firm take on. On the private equity side the firm advised BC Partners on the €940 million sale of Spotless Group to Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and IK on its acquisition of Exxelia Group, from LBO France.

Since the appointment of Céline Domenget-Morin in 2013, the restructuring and insolvency team at White & Case has advised on an ever increasing number of cases. Highlights from the last 12 months include advising a group of lenders on the financial and capital restructuring of textile company 5àsec Group, as it looks to improve its market presence.

Clifford Chance welcomed two new partners to the fold in Paris this year. Joining the finance and capital markets practice from Herbert Smith Freehills in September 2014 was US securities specialist Alex Bafi, bringing with him a wealth of experience in equity and debt capital markets, as well as high yield financing. Simultaneously making the move from Willkie Farr & Gallagher is corporate lawyer Fabrice Cohen, a specialist in private equity transactions, M&A and securities law. 

A notable reshuffle occurred in the finance department which saw Nicholas Wong move to Singapore, counsel Chad Bochan move to Sydney and Michael Quigley leave the firm to join Blake Cassels & Graydon in Bahrain. Counsel Benjamin de Blegiers and Delphine Siino Courtin are among those promoted to partner to fill the gap, as well as Richard Tomlinson who has relocated from London. 

The debt capital markets department in particular receives substantial praise, with the head of legal at a well-known automotive firm saying the firm are “accurate, timely and cost efficient”. Another client in the oil and gas field references the departments as an “excellent team of legal advisers with good legal practice, drafting and negotiating skills” and says they are “well aware of the latest finance market developments and innovation in each compartment of financing source”. The equity department is also on the receiving end of positive feedback: “Very responsive, excellent work,” says one client in the media industry. A consultant at a management consultancy firm singles out Frédérick Lacroix as “one of the best lawyers in France in securitisation”.

As a result of high liquidity in the market many companies in the jurisdiction have seen fit to refinance existing debt, and in line with the market the finance department was heavily involved in corporate refinancing during the last period. A significant example saw the firm advise construction company Eiffage and shareholders Macquarie, on the refinancing of €3.3 billion of loans dating back to 2012, one of the largest refinancing deals of recent years. The firm is also heavily active in acquisition finance, in one example Thierry Arachtingi acted for UniCrédit Bank who financed the tender offer for €990 million of shares in Club Méditerranée for Investindustrials. In LBO’s the firm acted for the lead arrangers, Babson Capital Global Advisors, ING Bank France, HSBC France and the Bank of Ireland, for the financing of the €345 million acquisition of eFront by Bridgepoint. 

Clifford Chance has positioned its Paris office as a global project finance hub for the firm, offering a full service offering in the oil and gas, mining, power, renewables and infrastructure sectors. Among its highlight roles, the firm advised a syndicate of lenders on numerous aspects of the first toll road in sub-Saharan Africa in Dakar, Senegal, including refinancing a previous loan, financing construction and operation and maintenance. Another notable deal saw the firm advise GDF Suez, Nareva Holding and Mitsui & Co on the $2.6 billion financing of a greenfield coal plant in Morocco, a deal lauded for its multi-cultural funding syndicate. 

The firm has one of the most active capital markets departments in France, on the debt side one highlight saw Cédric Burford advise Volvo Treasury on the issues of €1.5 billion of guaranteed hybrid bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the first of its kind by the automotive group. New partner Alex Bafi also advised the Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the offering of $250 million of high yield guaranteed notes from a Middle Eastern issuer. 

On the equity side the department was active on some significant deals, notably acting on the first, aborted, IPO of scientific research company SPIE. One deal that was closed was the £1 billion IPO of Zoopla on the LSE, the firm advising Credit Suisse and Jefferies through the process. The structured finance and securitisation team play an important part in the reinvention of the market, CFHL­1 2014 for example is the first public RMBS securitisation of French housing since the financial crisis. Department head Jonathan Lewis led the way advising Crédit Foncier de France on the €922 million portfolio placement. The firm also advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch International as arranger and lender on the refinancing and acquisition by private equity firm Lone Star of Heart of La Defense, a major business complex in Paris. 

Consistent with the current market the M&A and private equity practice at the firm had a very busy year, advising on some characteristically large and complex deals resulting in a ranking promotion. Highlights include advising Clayton Dubilier & Rice on the €1.2 billion acquisition of Mauser Group and advising Bridgepoint on the sale of the Permaswage Group to Precision Castparts Corp in the aviation sector, a deal which required a cross-border Clifford Chance team. In a flourishing M&A market, the firm worked for Airbus Group on its multi billion joint venture with Safran, a historic partnership to enter the launcher business. In the health sector Laurent Schoenstein advised Ramsay Health Care and Crédit Agricole Assurances on the acquisition of 83% of private hospital operator Générale de Santé, creating France’s largest private hospital provider in the process.

The restructuring and insolvency practice at Clifford Chance is headed up by partner Reinhard Dammann, and works closely with the other financial and corporate departments. As the market in France recovers there has been a slowdown in the the wave of restructurings, but the firm was still involved in some significant deals. One such transaction saw the firm advising Captain Bidco, a subsidiary of Apollo, through a large scale bankruptcy case that has lasted almost two years. An interesting case involving the firm’s Paris, Amsterdam and London offices saw the firm council DRC Capital through a multi-jurisdictional litigation battle concerning private international laws with Continental Property Investments real estate group. The firm eventually found a settlement through refinancing.

Gide Loyrette Nouel is one of the largest firms in France, and is recognised as having one of the strongest teams in the market, across many practice areas. There was little change to speak of at a senior level in the last 12 months, the firm maintaining 76 partners in Paris alone.

At the core of Gide’s practice is its banking and finance team, incorporating structured finance, LBO financing, acquisition finance, and particularly real estate finance and corporate finance. Regular clients include banks BNP Paribas, Société Générale and funds including Générale de Santé and De Agostini. In the last 12 months the firm has acted on both the sponsor and the lender side on some of the biggest finance deals in the jurisdiction, for example in corporate finance the widely publicised  public takeover of Club Méditerranée. Gide’s Eric Cartier-Millon advised Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB), Natixis and Société Générale as lead arrangers on the deal, which was valued at €800 million and closed February 2015. Cartier-Millon also advised RBS as agent on the €2.1 billion debt restructuring of Vivarte, through a debt to equity swap, the deal is one of the most prominent examples of the restructuring of LBO debt on the French market in the last year.

On the real estate side a notable deal for the firm had Rémi Tabbagh advising Nataxis and BNP Paribas as arrangers on the €1.1 billion financing of the takeover of property rental company SIIC de Paris by investment trust Eurosic, from Spain’s Realia Business.

The capital markets practice at Gide is perhaps best known for its four partner strong debt team which is among the forerunners in the market, advising on aspects of all debt related transactions. As well as more traditional debt instruments, the firm has been particularly active in recent years advising on the emerging European private placement market in France, and as well as advising on specific transactions Gide has had an active involvement in its direction, and the formulation of the regulatory documentation. A notable example of this saw partner Hubert du Vignaux act for BNP Paribas, Natixis and Société Générale as managers of Eramet’s two tranche €125 million 4.5% bonds due 2020, and €50 million 5.10% bonds due 2026, by way of private placement on the Euronext Paris. Other examples of significant deals the firm was involved in over the last year include acting for Orange on its €1 billion subordinated notes issue, as well as advising a syndicate of banks on Groupama’s multibillion euro exchange offer of outstanding undated subordinated notes for fixed to floating undated senior subordinated notes.

Gide are also highly active on the equity side, advising on several small to mid-cap IPO’s and rights issues in the last year. A highlight deal had Melinda Arsouze and Arnaud Duhamel advising Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, CACIB and Carnegie on their role as underwriters for the €175 million IPO by Solairedirect, on the Euronext Paris. Again led by Arnaud Duhamel, the also firm advised Rothschild on its role as financial advisor in the €220 million rights issuance by luxury brand Société des Bains de Mer.

The firm is also among the market leaders for its work in structured finance and securitisations and is the only traditional French firm ranked in the top tier. The team was extremely active during the last year, and although the majority of its cases remain confidential, it has acted on some significant, disclosable transactions. One highlight was advising BNP Paribas as arranger for AXA Bank Europe on the refinancing of a portfolio of residential assets through French covered bonds, the transaction was given a bond credit rating of AAA.

Boasting a 19 partner strong M&A practice, the firm remains in a solid position in the French market this year, and was involved in some of the largest corporate transactions seen in the field. One significant deal saw leading partners Guillaume Rougier-Brierre and Antoine Tézenas du Montcel act as council to French online bank Boursorama, as majority shareholder Société Générale launched a €1.1 billion offer to acquire the remaining shares from the minority shareholders. The firm also advised mobile network operator Vimpelcom on the sale of 51% of its stake in Omnium Telecom Algérie to the Algerian state fund. Coming from subsidiary Global Telecom Holding in Egypt, the sale was valued at $2.643 billion, and in crossing several jurisdictions was extremely complex.  

The restructuring and insolvency team at Gide is multi-disciplinary and acts closely with other areas of the firm. Among the highlights the team advised the renegotiation of financial debt for casino operator Groupe Partouche, and its majority shareholder.  The firm are also acting for the first health insurance company in France to require safeguarding (sauvegarde), Jean-Gabriel Flandrois is advising La Mutuelle des Etudiants with the case that will involve an entire business reshuffle as well as debt reorganisation.

The only significant personnel change to the team at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher in the last year is the departure of cross-border M&A, private equity and securities specialist Fabrice Cohen to Clifford Chance. As a replacement has not yet been appointed in these areas, the long term effects of his departure are yet to be seen. The firm has bolstered the team in some practice areas though, with the appointments of Vincent Pellier as special European counsel in the restructuring department, as well as Stanislas Curien, a senior associate with experience in acquisition finance and debt restructuring.

Despite this, the firm receives substantial positive plaudits. An M&A client in the industrial sector says the firm are “very professional”, while a debt capital markets client, active in real estate, says: “The firm was very helpful during our last syndicated loan. The knowledge of our legal counsel gave us a real advantage with our banks and negotiation was easier.” 

The project team was also on the receiving end of positive feedback: “Very experienced team in power projects, from both lender’s and owner’s outlook, a strong energy brand, excellent service and a good understanding of client's expectations, straightforward style very much appreciated.” Banking partner Paul Lombard is among those singled out for individual commendation, one client saying that he “is a great professional with a high level of market knowledge”.

The banking and finance team at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher is best known for its participation in major project finance, but is also active in more traditional financing including syndicated and bilateral lending and leveraged finance. For more than two years the firm counselled Meridiam & Ronesans, as well as project company ADN PPP Sağlık Yatirim, on their role as sponsors for the Integrated Healthcare Campus PPP (public-private partnership) project in Adana. Led by partner Amir Jahanguiri, this €550 million investment was the first PPP project in Turkey of any kind. In other financing highlights, the firm advised Carlyle and Sagemcom in regards to a new loan facility

In capital markets the firm is experienced on both the debt and equity sides, but in response to a burgeoning market has focused primarily on issuer representation on the debt side, with a particular focus on private placements in the French market. A significant highlight from the last year was the $325 million US private placement by outsourcing company Teleperformance carried out in two tranches. Partners Thierry Laloum and Gabriel Flandin also acted on behalf of Agence France Locale, advising on the launch of its €3 billion EMTN programme and its initial €750 million bond issuance. On the equity side, the firm were involved in Euronext’s €845 million IPO in June 2014, advising Euronext’s representative shareholders through the process.

M&A continues to be a key part of the firm’s practice, and the firm had an involvement in some of the weightiest deals in France of the last year, including advising Technipin its acquisition of Air Liquide’s Zimmer Polymer subsidiary. Another significant transaction saw the firm advise airport service company Swissport on the sale of its ground activities as part of a wider move by the company to manage economic pressures. 

Another of the firm’s stronger practice areas is private equity, and it is well known for its domestic and cross border LBO experience. One outstanding client the firm worked with was listed private equity firm Wendel, partner Daniel Hurstel advising it through its acquisition of packing company Constantia Flexibles, valued at €2.3 billion. The firm also acted for PAI Partners on more than one occasion, advising it with the acquisitions of DomusVi and Labeyrie for €630 million and €570 million respectively. 

The restructuring and insolvency team has definitely moved on since the departure of Maurice Lantourne and Flavie Hannoun in 2013, and led by partner Alexandra Bigot the practice continues to be at the core of Wilkie Farr & Gallagher’s offering. Specialisations include advising corporates with reorganisation, distressed business with pre-insolvency settlements and advising large groups with relocating under-performing subsidiaries.  Highlights from the last year include advising Cocom, Goldentree and Canyon in their roles as creditors to retailer Vivarte’s in relation to its €2.8 billion debt write off; the largest French lender led restructuring ever. Another case saw the firm advise investment firm Impala on its potential takeover of Arc International in a pre-pack sale under insolvency proceedings, a politically difficult case due to the inevitability of employment cuts as a result of the acquisition. 

The Paris office of magic circle firm Allen & Overy remained fairly stable over the last year, and maintains its position as one of the best financial and corporate firms practicing in France. Staffing changes in the last 12 months include M&A partner Marcus Billam’s March 2015 departure to Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier, along with Jean-Baptiste de Martigny, after only five years at the firm. Another departure saw equity capital markets specialist François Poudelet leave the firm. Both departures have been covered with internal promotions, with Hervé Ekué taking on the vacant role of head of the debt capital markets department. 

A client in the banking industry who has worked with the capital markets team says that the firm is “very good”, singling out corporate partner Marc Castagnède for his “strong capacity and strong involvement in any transaction”. Another client who worked with the firm in the mining industry called M&A partner Alexandre Ancel “brilliant.” Key partner Fabrice Faure-Dauphin of the derivatives and structured finance practice, which has flourished during the last year, is praised for his experience in the field: “He is an experienced lawyer, with a very good understanding and knowledge of securitisation. He has always made himself available when needed.”

The firm is known globally for its banking practice, and the Paris office is no exception, securing several high profile mandates over the last year. In line with the market the firm has secured a lot of work in prepayment financing, an example of this saw head of banking Adrian Mellor take the lead on a deal which saw the national oil company of the Republic of Chad, Société des Hydrocarbures du Tchad, secure $1.3 billion to finance the acquisition of upstream and midstream assets from Chevron in the jurisdiction, Allen & Overy advised Citi in their role as lenders. Another notable deal saw the firm advise Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Natixis and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB) on one of the most complex LBO deals in the French market in history, in connection with the Cerba group’s refinancing of its LBO debt through a new revolving credit facility and a concurrent high yield note issuance 

Allen & Overy’s African projects practice is run out of Paris, the firm having language advantages in francophone, and anglophone Africa. Practice leader Tim Scales worked personally on several large deals throughout the continent, including one case advising the borrowers, Lake Turkana Wind Power, with financing for a wind farm in Kenya. At €600 million this is the largest inward investment in Kenya ever, and when completed will be by capacity the biggest wind power project in Sub-Saharan Africa. The firm is also active outside of Africa, one example sees it advising the lenders to the Crucea North Wind Farm Project, financially one of the largest renewable projects in Romania. 

The debt side work of capital markets team is particularly strong, and leads the way in the French market. As with the other practice areas the department’s cross border capabilities allow it to offer exceptional service to clients requiring multijurisdictional assistance. One of many significant mandates saw Dan Lauder and Hervé Ekué council a syndicate of banks acting as deal managers for AXA in relation to an exchange offer of four series of euro and sterling subordinated notes, into two series of subordinated notes on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, to the value of €984 million and £723 million respectively. 

A noteworthy equity capital markets transaction saw the firm advise National Bank of Greece on its issuance of €2.5 billion ordinary shares on the Athens Stock Exchange. The derivatives and structured finance practice had an exceptional year, notably advising BNP Paribas and Société Générale as joint lead managers in the securitisation of a portfolio of auto loans as well as the creation of a covered bond programme worth €600 million to refinance insurance company Coface’s guaranteed export loans, by the same banks. 

Despite the loss of Marcus Billam, the M&A department had a busy year and was particularly active acting on medium to large cap transactions. There is a lot of appetite in the market for secondary deals in the private equity sector in France at the moment, an example of this saw the firm advise Weinberg Capital on its acquisition of online retailer Bruneau, from Argosyn. The firm also acted on some of the largest traditional M&A deals in France of the last year, Frédéric Moreau advised the main shareholder of Lafarge, NNS Holding, on its €29.6 billion merger with Swiss cement company Holcim. The department also advised Vivendi on its €17 billion sale to Altice, one of the largest M&A deals in the telecommunications sector in France of recent years.

Since the appointment of three partners from Gide Loyrette Nouel in 2013 the corporate team at Lacourte Raquin Tatar has gone from strength to strength. Under the leadership of name partner Serge Tatar, the team is particularly active in the telecom, real-estate and transport sectors, SNCF and Orange are regular clients. 

A highlight saw the team working for SNCF, the French state owned railway company and majority shareholder of Eurostar, on the reorganisation of Eurostar’s share capital. Tatar advised SNCF in the negotiations between the shareholders to acquire total control, and with the sale of the UK government’s stake that followed, in a deal that totals over a billion euros. The department also acted for SNCF in relation to the conversion of Thalys to a fully integrated rail company, operating in France and Belgium. 

Renaud Rossa acted on behalf of Orange France in the acquisition of cloud service provider Clouwatt, purchasing 22% of shares from Thales, and 33% from Caisse des Dépôts to take its own share to 100% in order to strengthen its own cloud offerings. Rossa also advised Orange in the sale of its advertising portfolio in Spain, the US and Mexico to Hi-media group. 

Other notable clients include leading wine company Groupe Castel, Proparco and Unibail-Rodamco.

Santoni & Associes is led by Marc Santoni with the assistance of Bérangère Rivals in litigation and Lionel Lamoure in restructuring. As the exclusive partner of Allen & Overy, the restructuring and insolvency boutique sits firmly in our top tier, maintaining its strong position for another year. The firm is extremely specialised, focused on providing assistance to companies in crisis, with the acquisition of distressed companies, aiding investment funds and representing and assisting ailing creditors. 

Despite a relatively quiet year across the board in terms of restructuring and insolvency, Marc Santoni worked on some interesting, high profile transactions in the last year. One notable case saw Santoni take the lead on the €400 million financial restructuring of the JOA group, France’s third largest casino operator and online gambling operator, by financing its existing LBO and by providing fresh money from a group of lenders, including investment group Alchemy. The firm, working opposite Ashurst, assisted with the discussions between the creditors and shareholders. 

The firm was involved in the €2.8 billion restructuring of French fashion company Vivarte, acting on behalf of the lenders. Private equity funds Alcentra and Oaktree were among the 12 lenders looking to buy more than 50% of the debt. 

With the assistance of Léonore Agrest, Santoni also advised investment firm L-GAM as it acquired €138 million of French garden centre Jardiland’s debt. Another interesting case saw the team act for The Carlyle Group as creditors in the cross-border insolvency of Zodiac, a company with over a billion euros of debt.

A notable appointment to Hogan Lovells' Paris office was that of dual qualified (England and Wales/Paris) Alexander Premont to the banking and finance department from Linklaters. Premont, who will split his time between London and Paris, is a worthy addition to the team at Hogan Lovells, as the firm looks to develop its English law capability within France. 

The managing partner of a well-known financial services group in France, working with the banking department says the service received was “excellent” and “efficient,” and singles out key partner Sabine Bironneau for individual acclaim.  

Key transactional highlights include Michel Quéré acting on behalf of Crédit Agricole and Natixis as credit finance providers, of the refinancing of the debt of textile company Vivarte. The debt restructuring, amounting to more than €2.8 billion was one of the largest of its kind in 2014 in France. In acquisition finance the department acted for Crédit Agricole and Natixis as lenders to Soluni, for the €210 million purchase of engineering company CNIM. 

Drawing on large global resources, the firm is strong in project finance domestically and internationally across much of western and northern francophone Africa, with particular emphasis on PPP’s, renewables and infrastructure. Partner Olivier Fille-Lambie advised the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the Agence Française de Développement in connection with the financing of the construction and operation of an international airport in Dakar, Senegal. Other representative highlights run through the Paris office include work for the governments of Niger and Benin on a 2000km railway development across West Africa, valued at $4.3 billion. 

In the debt capital markets, leading lawyer Sharon Lewis led the way as the firm acted for EDF in the first 100-year bond issue denominated in sterling, and a further issuance of continuous subordinated notes in euro and sterling as part of its wider €30 billion EMTN programme. Other debt transactions saw Lewis acting for Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild on the update of its €750 million EMTN programme. In equity the firm counselled biotech company Valneva with a €45 million capital increase. 

The team has a healthy presence in the area of structured finance and securitisations. A representative deal saw the firm act for Ford Credit, the captive bank subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, on its €516 million securitisation of automotive consumer loan receivables, through the public term securitisation market. The receivables were sold to Ford Credit’s Globaldrive Dutch SPV and listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. 

Led by Jean-Marc Franceschi, Hogan Lovells has one of the best firms in Paris for small to mid-cap M&A transactions. Alongside Xavier Doumen, Franceschi helped General Electric (GE) with the agreement to sell its global real estate equity and debt portfolio, worth around €23 billion, in what is the largest divestment in France for nearly a decade. Elsewhere Doumen acted for Alstom in connection with the French aspects of the acquisition of its power and grid operations by GE, as well as the procurement of its Intelligent Transportation Solutions business. The deal, valued at €12.35 billion, was highly politically sensitive.

In private equity the department also acted for a number of firms in small to mid-investments, for example Stéphane Huten advised Cathay Capital with its investment in a marine and security company, and Doumen assisted Moringa with the acquisition of Nicafrance, a Nicaraguan agroforestry company. 

The firm’s restructuring and insolvency department is headed up by Cécile Dupoux, and is fully integrated with other European practices. Although pure restructuring has seen something of a dip in recent times across France, there have been few large scale insolvency cases and the practice has remained busy, tending to advise companies looking to acquire distressed assets in the region. Dupoux is currently working for holding company TRW on the insolvency of one its French subsidiaries, as well as the closure of another plant.

Led by name-partner Thierry Cotty, mid-cap firm Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral is known for its M&A and private equity work. A client from an asset management firm, working with the firm in the technology and telecommunications sector, refers to the firm’s Benoit Marpeau as “bright and very reactive, very polyvalent”, and summarises the firms work as “excellent”. The firm is headquartered in Paris, but has associate offices across the world, in Japan, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Representative highlights saw Cotty act on behalf of Avril Group, formerly Sofiproteol, in connection with its alliance with private equity firm LDC to form new poultry company Société Bretonne de Volaille, a business looking to make strides in the sector by investing hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years.

Another role saw Marpeau take the lead as the firm advised investment fund Impala in relation to its investment into luxury brand Maison Lejaby, a sector that the firm is looking to expand into. 

August & Debouzy promoted two new partners at the turn of 2015, with Julien Wagmann and Laurent Cotret joining the partnership. The nine partner strong corporate department, led by co-founder Gilles August, has a healthy reputation in the Parisian market, as well as offices in Brussels and Casablanca.

Led by ex-Gide and Weil Gotshal & Manges lawyer David Malamed, the banking practice acts on both lender and borrower side mandates, including debt, financing and regulatory work. Key highlights include acting for Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon in regards to the complex financing and sale operations of four Airbus planes for airlines Lion Air and Batik Air Indonesia, worth €300 million per plane. 

In M&A, the department acted on behalf of Rolls-Royce in connection with the French aspects of the sale of its energy gas turbine and compressor businesses to Siemens for €950 million, Julien Aucomte acted on behalf of the firm. Another highlight had the firm acting for Microsoft in relation to the French law aspects of the €5.4 billion acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone business. Other clients include Dassault Aviation and CN Air. 

The restructuring department also had an active year, and boasts clients including Klesch Group, JLG Oshkosh, Eurostar, Rio Tinto and private equity firm KKR. One representative highlight has the firm acting for XL Airways in connection with the entire restructuring of its business. The company, with a turnover of €500 million, is seeking investment through a new shareholder structure.

The only notable change at the Parisian office of Baker & McKenzie saw local partner David Haccoun, of nearly 11 years’ experience, move to the Osborne Clark’s recently opened French branch. No direct replacement has been hired, the firm has however recruited two new associates in the last year. 

One client, working closely with the M&A department, in the construction industry praises the “knowledgeable team”, saying they are “very clear in their views and efficient in their turnaround time”. A client from the TMT sector says the firm are “responsive and effective” and singles out partner Alyssa Gallot as: “An effective and capable counsellor on our project, with a unique ability to efficiently bridge the challenges of a cross-border transaction between France and the US.” 

Michael Foundethakis, the firm’s head of banking and finance in Paris and in EMEA, led the way on some interesting transactions, with a particular focus on cross-border activities. An interesting transaction saw Foundethakis acting on behalf of Société Générale as lender in relation to three parallel loan agreements, amounting to €122 million, for BakuBus as it sought to import a fleet of buses to Azerbaijan prior to the European Games in Baku.

Other banking highlights saw the practice acting opposite Allen & Overy for Proparco, German Investment Corporation and The Netherlands Development Finance Company in their roles as the development finance institutions in a $189 million loan to the Aga Khan Foundation for Economic Development, to promote entrepreneurship in the developing world. The department is also active in project development globally, and while most of its work remains confidential, has an involvement in the financing of several interesting developments in emerging markets.

The finance department is also active within the capital markets, and is particularly active in the area of securitisation, including RMBS and other asset backed securities. One notable highlight saw partner Cyril Tour act for Commerzbank in the context of the securitisation of trade receivables, the €110 million transaction used a Luxembourg vehicle. 

Led by Stéphane Davin, the M&A department acted for Safran subsidiary Hispano-Suiza in connection with the establishment of a joint venture with Rolls-Royce to produce market leading drive train transmission systems, in what was a very high profile merger of two well-known brands. The practice also acted for Sika in connection with its acquisition of resin company Axson Technologies.

The period of 2014/15 saw some change at partner level at Orrick Rambaud Martel within the banking and finance department, most notably the move of Jean-Marc Zampa to Holman Fenwick Willan. Prior to this, finance partner and African specialist Jean-Jacques Essombè joined from Heenan Blaikie. Elsewhere Alexis Hojabr, a former senior associate at Freshfields, was brought in as of counsel to the M&A group, along with Ramu Ramaswamy, a former Eversheds energy and infrastructure lawyer. 

The four partner strong banking and finance team has been very active in acquisition, export and real estate finance and debt restructurings in line with the current boom in the market. In acquisition finance, Diane de Moüy acted for Club Méditerranée in connection with the refinancing of its debt, through a tender offer on all its shares and securities, launched by Chinese investor Fosun. Moüy also advised Groupe Gascogne on its debt restructuring. The department also acted on the financing of the new Ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-mer developments through project bonds partially guaranteed by the PBCE guarantee issued by the EIB.

The project finance and PPP (public-private partnership) department at Orrick works extensively on infrastructure projects across a number of industry sectors and countries across the world but particularly within the African subcontinent. The firm has recently opened an affiliate office in Abidjan, under the name of Orrick RCI. An interesting case saw the department act on behalf of Bouygues in connection with the sea urbanisation project to extend the land parameters of Monaco.

The capital markets team is one of the foremost in France, sitting in the third tier for both debt and equity and structured finance and securitisation. The department represented L’Oréal in connection with its €6.5 billion buy back of 8% of its shares from Nestlé. Another interesting transaction saw the team advise FFP and its controlling company, Etablissements Peugeot Frères, in a €3 billion capital investment in Peugeot by Chinese automotive company Dongfeng, with the French state and existing shareholders offering new shares. Arnauld Achard also adviseed Veolia Environnement with the annual update of its €16 billion EMTN programme. 

Orrick acted on behalf of the board of directors on one of the largest M&A deals in France of the last year, the acquisition of Alstom’s power and grid businesses by General Electric for a total of $16.9 billion. Elsewhere Saam Golshani advised XAnge Private Equity, Auriga Partners, Battery Ventures and W Capital Partners as shareholders and investors in the sale of shares in Neolane to Adobe for $600 million. A private equity highlight had the department act for restaurant booking service LaFourchette in its acquisition by TripAdvisor from Otium Capital. 

In the restructuring and insolvency space, Golshani advised a group of lenders in the restructuring of paper company Sequana. Elsewhere Jean-Pierre Martel worked with Eurodisney on a recapitalisation plan.

Three years after opening, the Paris office of Pinsent & Masons is listed in our banking and finance, M&A and restructuring and insolvency tables, and is recognised for its work in the field of private equity. 

Often working in tandem with the London office, the dedicated banking and finance team represented some of Europe’s largest banks in the last year. Pierre François for example led the way as Barclays provided funding for the refinancing of HomeServe, following its acquisition of Doméo, to the tune of £300 million. The department also advised Western Union International Bank on numerous regulatory matters, one case involving an anti-money laundering service in a transaction involving Austrian, French and Irish law aspects. 

Comprising five partners, the corporate team also covers a broad range of corporate capabilities, including both public and private M&A work, often with a cross border element. Local office head Christoph Maurer and Antje Luke acted on behalf of Nasdaq listed NN Inc in relation to the French and German aspects of its acquisition of Autocam, the pan-European deal totalling around €300 million. 

Pierre Forget of the restructuring and insolvency department acted for Lone Star in relation to the acquisition of distressed real estate portfolio assets from Irish banks. Other clients include Sagard Private Equity, O-Net Communications Group and CITI Technologies.

Other than a wave of partner promotions in the last year, the only fresh face at JeantetAssociés in the last year has been of counsel Cyril Deniaud, who arrived from Herbert Smith Freehills. A client in the aviation industry working with the banking and corporate teams says: “Jeantet has been most helpful in navigating us through the requirements of French corporate law in restructuring our French business.” Jean-Francois Adelle is described as “diligent, timely and practical in the advice and the services provided”. 

Banking and finance is one of the firm’s core sectors, and the highest ranked department in our rankings. Though the vast majority of its work remains confidential, notable clients include Proparco, Eurofins Scientific and Generali. 

Capital markets highlights include work for Heights Capital Management on an issue of €10 million in convertible bonds by Diaxonhit on the Alternext.  

M&A highlights include work for Trimet Aluminium on its acquisition of two production plants from Rio Tinto Alcan, and Caterham Cars in its joint venture project with Renault for the manufacturing of automobiles.

Known for litigation, the firm is active in the area of restructuring and insolvency, particularly in insolvency matters. The large part of work completed, or currently in progress, remains confidential.

The only change at partnership level in 2014/15 at CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre saw corporate partner Bruno Peillon, with the firm since 1975, take his retirement. Elsewhere the only recruitment to occur was the appointment of senior associates from Hogan Lovells and Allen & Overy, in the forms of Benjamin Guilleminot and Damien Luqué. 

The banking and finance department at CMS is particularly known for its work in structured finance, corporate finance including LBO’s, real estate finance and complex fund transactions. The firm tends to work for lenders with regular clients including BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Lyonnais. A representative transaction saw Laurent Mion advise Natixis as lenders in connection with the €1 billion refinancing of investment company Eurazio’s syndicated revolving credit facility. A borrower side mandate saw the team advise on the refinancing of Vacalians Group’s banking facilities, as well as the implementation of a new loan facility. 

The projects team works with a number of private and public sector bodies in sectors including industrial, construction and finance, specialising in public-private partnerships (PPP) within France. François Tenailleau took charge as the firm acted for the French Ministry of Defence in connection with an operation to outsource military vehicles, the €2.2 billion cross practice transaction was partly funded by banks. Jean Jacques Lecat of the African project practice also advised the government of the Cote d’Ivoire in relation to a PPP project to build a train in Abidjan, valued at around €1 billion.  

In capital markets the firm has one of the most respected debt teams in the jurisdiction, working on a significant number of Euro private placements. Highlights of this kind of work saw lead partner Marc-Etienne Sébire advise NGE on its inaugural secured bond issuance of €70 million, in what was the first listed issuance in the Euro private placement market. Sébire also advised Société Générale with the update of its €50 billion EMTN programme, as well as aggregated drawdowns of €6.34 billion. 

The structured finance and securitisation team acted on a variety of different asset classes including ABCP and RMBS. An example is the firm’s work on the €1.3 billion refinancing of the securitisation fund of home loans by BNP Paribas.

In M&A a notable deal saw Christophe Blondeau act on behalf of Somfy on the demerger of its divisions, Somfy Activities and Somfy Participations, including the transfer of assets to a Luxembourg company. Another interesting case had the team advise Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance on its acquisition of part of the Grosvenor Group’s real estate portfolio. In private equity the department acted for the managers of metallic racks and furniture company Averys during its acquisition by Equistone Partners, from LBO France. Another case saw the team advise private equity firm ACG Capital on the sale of Financiere De La Santoline. 

Highlights for the restructuring and insolvency department, led by Alexandre Bastos, include work for Sodexo in connection with the insolvency proceedings of frozen food packager Européenne Food.