The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > France > Mergers and acquisitions

The 'outstanding team' at Bredin Prat is 'always committed to clients' needs' and stands out through its ability to 'gather legal competences in very specialised areas of M&A in a seamless team' and being 'supported by very strong practices to deliver M&A transactions in all their components'. It consistently attracts the biggest transactions in the market, covering a broad spectrum of sectors, and succeeds in fielding a strong domestic caseload in addition to 'being particularly well equipped to advise on cross-border transactions'. Recent highlights include advising Delfin, controlling shareholder of Luxottica, on the €47bn merger of Luxottica and Essilor, a matter jointly led by Sébastien Prat and Florence Haas. A recent domestic stand-out instruction saw Olivier Assant and Clémence Fallet advise Direct Énergie on the acquisition of 74.33% of shares by Total. Patrick Dziewolski demonstrates 'a very sharp appreciation of situations and negotiation dynamics'. Barthélémy Courteault, Benjamin Kanovitch, Didier Martin, Matthieu Pouchepadass and Kate Romain are also recommended. Other clients include Air Liquide, Orano, Danone and the Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel.

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier remains one of the key practices in the French  market for high-profile transactions. Strong in domestic and international transactions alike, the team's core area of expertise is advising public companies, but it has built an impressive portfolio of work undertaken for private companies. Highlights included advising Unibail-Rodamco on its headline-grabbing acquisition of Westfield, led by Marcus Billam, Hugo Diener and newly promoted partner Laurent Gautier. It also assisted Vivendi with its €900m acquisition of Editis, a matter led jointly by Billam and Jean-Baptiste de Martigny. Forrest Alogna, Emmanuel Brochier, Benjamin Burman, Bertrand Cardi, Jean-Michel Darrois, Olivier Huyghues Despointes, Alain Maillot and Christophe Vinsonneau are also noted.

BDGS Associés advises clients from a variety of sectors, including retail, infrastructure, real estate and technology. Adept at assisting with domestic and cross-border transactions alike, the practice increasingly reaps the rewards of adding its tax and competition and regulation departments in 2014 and early 2016, respectively, as well as a restructuring department later in 2016. In a recent highlight requiring both corporate and antitrust expertise, Youssef Djehane led corporate advice for Carrefour on a five-year renewable partnership with Coopérative U Enseigne involving the creation of a joint venture with key suppliers of the two groups. Antoine Bonnasse and Thomas Meli advised Safran on its €7.7bn acquisition of Zodiac Aerospace. Lucile Gaillard, Marc Loy and Jean-Emmanuel Skovron are other key contacts. Bouygues Telecom, Bpifrance and CMA CGM also count among the team's clients.

The team of 'great professionals' at Clifford Chance 'combines deep experience, the ability to deliver fast under pressure, a pragmatic approach and the ability to find creative solutions'. Recent highlights include multiple cross-border cases, among them advising Engie on the $2.04bn sale of its liquefied natural gas business to Total, a matter led by the 'client-oriented and business-minded' Mathieu Rémy. Fabrice Cohen, who is 'very pragmatic, with a risk-oriented mindset', advised Europcar on its €1bn acquisition of Goldcar from Investindustrial. Domestically, Marianne Pezant assisted Carrefour with the creation of a common vehicle with Fnac Darty, creating a purchasing partnership for domestic appliances and consumer electronics in France.  Other noteworthy practitioners include Gilles Lebreton, Laurent Schoenstein and counsel Olivier Jouffroy, 'a very good professional who is able to manage pressure very well'. Julien Brun made counsel. Benjamin de Blegiers joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in 2019. Vacalians, Airbus, Axel Springer and Plastic Omnium all count among the team's clients.

Latham & Watkins demonstrates particular strength in cross-border transactions, acting for private and public-sector clients alike, and shoulders a busy caseload of high-profile transactions. Recent highlights include advising Worldline on its strategic partnership with SIX through which Wordline would acquire SIX Payment Services for €2.3m. Pierre-Louis Cléro and Patrick Laporte, jointly with Munich-based Rainer Traugott, assisted Siemens with its €15bn merger with Alstom. Other clients include Shandong Ruyi, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and PAI Partners. Olivier du Mottay and Thomas Forschbach, who is partly based in London, are also recommended. Bénédicte Bremond made counsel and Alexander Crosthwaite made partner. Practice head Gaëtan Gianasso splits his time between Paris and London.

Active in private and public transactions, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP primarily acts for industrial and financial groups, private equity sponsors and family-owned corporations. The team has extensive expertise in the restructuring of large listed companies, but excels in the entire range of M&A transactions, both domestic and international. Practice head Claude Serra and Yannick Piette jointly advised Atos on its $3.4bn acquisition of Syntel. A highlight from the life sciences sector saw Arthur de Baudry d’Asson and David Aknin assist Sanofi with the €1.9bn sale of Zentiva to Advent International. Agathe Soilleux is another key practitioner. Benjamin de Blegiers joined from Clifford Chance. CGG, JCDecaux and Casino also feature on the client list.

Predestined for cross-border transactions, Baker McKenzie gained noticeably visibility in the market since the arrival of Matthieu Grollemund from Dechert LLP in 2017. Instructions mainly come from the TMT, consumer goods and retail, and healthcare and financial services sectors, but the team's track record displays even broader sector expertise. In a recent healthcare highlight, Stéphane Davin, who heads the practice alongside Grollemund, recently joined forces with the Chicago-based Mike DeFranco to assist Servier with its $2.4bn acquisition of Shire's global oncology business. Alyssa Auberger, Marie-Françoise Bréchignac and Alain Sauty de Chalon are also recommended. Aurélie Goville made partner and Antoine Caillard was promoted to senior counsel. Abbott Laboratories, Crédit Agricole and EDF are also clients.

The 'efficient, organised' and 'approachable' team at De Pardieu Brocas Maffei specialises in financial services and real estate sector transactions, but  fields a strong practice in several other sectors, ranging from agribusiness and energy to infrastructure and TMT. In addition to advising InVivo Retail on its acquisition of Jardiland from L-GAM, the group assisted Orano with its pre-sale reorganisation aimed at transferring a part of its assets to Framatome. Thierry Brocas, Patrick Jaïs, Jean-François Pourdieu and Guillaume Touttée are the names to note. With the promotions of Delphine Vidalenc to partner and Grégoire Balland to counsel, the practice further increased its footing in the market, despite the departure of counsel Alexandre Lecomte, who left for a role in-house at InVivo. Other clients include CNP Assurances, Batipart and La Banque Postale.

Dechert LLP impresses with 'strong technical skills', 'deep knowledge and experience' and the team is noted as 'exceptionally proactive'. Deeply rooted in the life sciences sector, the group has expanded to advise clients from a broad array of sectors, frequently French-listed companies or multinational players from the telecoms, technology, food and energy sectors. The 'astute' Ermine Bolot 'knows how to address the challenges of an international industrial group' and is noted for her 'ability to propose innovative angles in negotiations'. Joint practice heads Bolot and Alain Decombe, who provides 'a unique mix of legal expertise and in-depth understanding of a company's organisation and needs', advised Neovia's shareholders on negotiating an exclusive agreement for the sale of all of Neovia's shares to Archer Daniels Midland Company. Other clients include American Express, Eurovia and GlaxoSmithKline. Isabelle Marguet is another key contact. Laurent Faugerolas left the firm.

'Pragmatic and innovative', Dentons' 'analytical and creative' team is 'efficient, reliable' and 'goal-oriented'. Life sciences and energy transactions form the group's mainstay, but the recent caseload spans a range of sectors, from advising new client Amrest on its acquisition of SAS Sushi Shop Group from Naxicap Partners, to advising Rio Tinto on the sale of its Dunkirk plant to GFG Alliance, and assisting Dries van Noten with its strategic partnership with fragrance group Puig. The team, headed by Olivier Genevois, includes Olivia Guéguen, who possesses 'good commercial understanding', and key practitioner Jean-Marc Grosperrin. New clients Biogaran and BPCE as well as Blackstone, EDF and Pfizer form part of the client roster.

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. continues to attract both large-cap and mid-cap transactions, making for an impressive list of recent domestic highlights in addition to several cross-border matters. On the domestic side, Didier Martin advised AccorHotels on the creation of a dedicated subsidiary for its €6.6bn HotelInvest operations. Internationally, Christophe Eck assisted Japanese electric motor manufacturer Nidec with the acquisition of Leroy-Somer's industrial alternators and drive systems division. SPIE, Amundi and Michelin are also clients. Other key contacts are Nadège Nguyen, Hugues Scalbert and Anne Tolila. Olivier Diaz and Charles de Reals joined from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

The 'very dedicated' team at Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP fields 'partners that make a deal happen', 'offering added value and pragmatic advice'. 'Very efficient in negotiations', the practice is particularly active in mid-market transactions, but the recent caseload shows an increase in larger mid-cap deals. In addition to advising Daimler on its acquisition of Chauffeur Privé, the team assisted NeoT Capital with the creation of electric mobility investment vehicle NeoT Green Mobility, in co-operation with EDF, Mitsubishi, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Forsee Capital. Xavier Doumen 'is very hands-on, proactive and reliable', and 'very reassuring to have on a deal'; he heads the practice jointly with Jean-Marc Franceschi and Stéphane Huten. Florian Brechon made counsel. Europcar and Edenred are also clients. Counsel Arnaud Levasseur left to join Jeausserand Audouard.

Jones Day focuses on cross-border, mid-cap transactions, frequently at the upper end of the bracket. It possesses expertise in a range of sectors, with recent instructions coming from the life sciences, technology and financial services sectors. ABB received advice on the sale of Entrelec, a transaction spanning more than 20 countries, and My Money Bank on the sale of its French auto loans business to Financo. Other matters came from Sanofi, CBRE Global Investors and Euronext. Sophie Hagège heads the practice; other key contacts include Audrey Bontemps, Alexandre de Verdun and Gaël Saint Olive. Of counsel Anne Reffay left to join Ashurst LLP.

Shearman & Sterling LLP's expertise spans a wide range of sectors but the team has a marked focus on the financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, TMT and energy sectors. Practice head Guillaume Isautier and Nicolas Bombrun shoulder the majority of the work, with key support coming from of counsel Cyrille Niedzielski and counsels Barbara Le Chapellier and Marie Pouget. Recent highlights include advising Novartis on its $3.9bn acquisition of Advanced Accelerator Applications and assisting Japan Nuclear Fuel with its investment in Orano as part of Areva's €4.5bn global restructuring. Amundi, Jin Jiang and Société Générale also count among the team's clients.

At White & Case LLP, the arrival of Saam Golshani, Alexis Hojabr and Guillaume Vitrich from Orrick Rambaud Martel significantly increased the group's footprint in the market. The team combines strong cross-border capabilities with a focus on the automotive, technology and financial services sectors, regularly acting in high-profile transactions. It advised Ingenico Group on its €1.5bn acquisition of Bambora from Nordic Capital, a cross-border matter involving France and Sweden, and assisted Faurecia with its strategic partnership and investment in Parrot Automotive. On the domestic side, stand-out matters included multiple instructions from Legris Industries, such as the sale of Savoye Logistics to Noblelift Equipment Joint Stock and the acquisition of Schiederwerk Germany. The client roster also features BNP Paribas, Eren Renewable Energy and Visteon. Key contacts include practice head Hugues Mathez and François Leloup. Jean Paszkudzki made counsel.

The 'very experienced and proactive' team at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP 'goes beyond of what is normally expected'. The group demonstrates broad sector coverage, with strength in both domestic and cross-border transactions. Practice head Eduardo Fernandez is noted for his 'outstanding ability to make complicated matters easier to understand'; he advised entertainment player Trace, one of Trace's co-founders and its management team on its acquisition by TPG Growth. CMA CGM, Thales and Bonduelle are also clients. Other key contacts include cross-border joint venture specialist Annette Péron, energy and infrastructure expert Gabriel Flandin, carve-out specialist Grégoire Finance and public M&A expert Daniel Hurstel.