Firm Profile > Bredin Prat > Paris, France

Dispute resolution: Commercial litigation Tier 1

Bredin Prat  handles an impressive volume of groundbreaking cases on behalf of leading French, US and other international companies. The 19-lawyer team excels in landmark M&A-related disputes involving well-known listed and non-listed companies. Its mandates include advising on behalf of some leading US internet companies facing claims in France challenging the legality of the way they operate in the country. Other highlights include acting in France's first class-action case and handling civil and criminal liability disputes.  Key names in the practice include the highly regarded Jean-Daniel Bretzner, as well as  Florian Bouaziz, Sébastien Prat, Guillaume Pellegrin and Eve Duminy.

Dispute resolution: Stock market litigation Tier 1

Bredin Prat has leading expertise acting in stock-market litigation. The team also defends listed companies and their directors in investigations by the French securities regulator AMF, and acts in trials before the French courts relating to market abuse issues including misleading communications and insider dealing accusations. Corporate partner Sébastien Prat, white-collar crime expert Eric Dezeuze, senior partner Didier Martin and litigators Jean-Daniel Bretzner and Guillaume Pellegrin are key names to note.

Dispute resolution: White-collar crime Tier 1

Bredin Prat manages a large and outstanding caseload. The firm is appointed by France's largest companies, as well as leading international corporations and banks. The sizeable team is notably handling landmark tax fraud cases and defending leading US internet platforms facing proceedings in which their business model and ability to operate in France are directly at stake. The firm is also involved in various international corruption, bribery, fraud and securities-related matters. Practice head Eric Dezeuze is one of the country's most highly regarded white-collar defence lawyers. Guillaume Pellegrin is the other key member, while litigator Jean-Daniel Bretzner also regularly contributes.

Employment Tier 1

Bredin Prat assists many high-profile French and international corporations. The 16-lawyer practice focuses on providing support to the firm’s thriving M&A practice in addition to handling high-level stand-alone work such as advising on collective negotiations and complex workforce-reduction projects. The team also deals with newly emerging sensitive domestic employment issues, for example whistleblowing situations and high-stake disputes questioning the status of workers in new jobs created by the digital economy. For instance, the practice assists Uber with very complex matters that directly challenge the independent status of drivers and couriers before French judicial courts and recently obtained a favourable decision from the Social Security Tribunal of Paris. Practice head Pascale Lagesse is one of France’s most recognised market figures. Also involved are Cyril Gaillard, Laëtitia Tombarello and counsel Jérôme Cordier.

EU, competition and distribution Tier 1

Bredin Prat's successful practice is handling landmark cases on every front. The 20-lawyer team, which has excellent merger control expertise, regularly advises on the merger aspects of the largest M&A transactions in France and the EU. Recent highlights include the headline Fnac Darty post-merger case which, for the first time, saw the French Competition Authority condemning a company for non-compliance with previously agreed merger control clearance remedies. On the antitrust front, the practice is involved in the market's most significant domestic and EU cases in a wide range of sectors, dealing with cartel and abuse of dominant position. For client Grands Moulins de Strasbourg the practice successfully convinced the Paris Court of Appeal to lower a French Competition Authority's fine from €18.9m to €2m in the flour cartel case. Another headline case saw the team defend Apple before the Paris Commercial Court in a dispute with the French Minister for the Economy denouncing the company's abusive commercial practices. The practice is co-headed by leading market figures Hugues Calvet, Olivier Billard and Marie-Cécile Rameau, the promising Yelena Trifounovitch and Paris and Brussels-based Pierre Honoré.

EU competition and distribution

Mergers and acquisitions Tier 1

Bredin Prat covers an extensive range of sectors and has an outstanding track record in private and public M&A as well as in distressed M&A and transactions with a private equity component. While the firm has strong French roots and a high-profile domestic caseload, it also impresses with its substantial cross-border work on inbound and outbound transactions. The team is a key part of the firm's full-service offering and regularly draws on in-house colleagues from the employment, tax, financing, IT, competition and public law teams as well as on its litigation experts to provide a seamless service across different practice areas. Large-cap transactions, including jumbo-cap matters, account for a considerable proportion of the team's workload, but the team is active across all market segments, including small-cap. With Olivier Assant, Sophie Cornette de Saint Cyr, Patrick Dziewolski, Clémence Fallet, Florence Haas, Benjamin Kanovitch, Matthieu Pouchepadass, Sébastien Prat and Kate Romain as the key contacts the group offers one of the deepest benches in the market.

Tax Tier 1

Bredin Prat’s 'thoughtful, creative, incredibly savvy and experienced' tax team is an essential component of the firm’s thriving M&A practice and advises on most of the firm’s high-profile transactions, including assisting Axa with the tax aspects of the acquisition of insurance specialist XL Group. The team's 'invaluable' advice also covers property and transnational tax matters. In addition, leading French, US and other international corporations and banks turn to the practice for support in dealing with complex tax restructuring and other highly sensitive tax audit and litigation matters. The firm is handling many cases with high financial stakes before the highest French courts. The sizeable practice is led by Yves Rutschmann and includes the highly regarded Sébastien de Monès, Pierre-Henri Durand and Julien Gayral, as well as more junior partners Anne Robert and Jean-Florent Mandelbaum.

Administrative and public law Tier 2

Bredin Prat's Yann Aguila is helping France's largest private and public companies and various state entities, as well as major international companies, with high-level regulatory issues. The three-lawyer team recently worked on landmark restructuring, governmental reform and litigation matters, spanning various industries including the railway, transport and energy sectors. It also successfully handled a high-stake litigation in the banking sector. In addition, the practice provides key support on the firm's high-profile M&A transactions involving public sector infrastructure assets and state-owned companies. Finally, it also deals with public law contract matters. Counsel Guillaume Froger is highly involved in matters.

Banking and finance: transactional work Tier 2

Clients of Bredin Prat praise the firm's 'excellent legal expertise combined with a pragmatic approach'. The firm specialises in corporate borrowing in the form of syndicated loans, bank refinancing and restructuring in the context of distressed LBOs, as well as capital market transactions including high-yield bonds and international private placements. The firm, which has an emphasis on borrower-side work, has a strong domestic practice, but is also busy with cross-border matters. Practice head Raphaële Courtier handles banking, acquisition finance, LBO financing, capital market transactions, private placements and debt restructuring. Clients also praise the 'highly dedicated' Karine Sultan.

Capital markets: equity capital markets Tier 2

Bredin Prat is mainly active on behalf of domestic and multinational issuers and selling shareholders and its client roster includes several key market players, including retail giant Carrefour and Canada-based pension fund manager, Investissements PSP. The group’s expertise spans IPOs, convertible bonds, private placements, rights issues and accelerated bookbuilding transactions, and it also handles supplementary offerings, regulatory matters and securities litigation. The ‘reactive and pragmatic’ Olivier Saba heads the department and his practice straddles corporate and equity capital markets, with strong activity in public offerings, spin-offs and bond issues.

Insolvency Tier 2

Bredin Prat's seven-lawyer team is very experienced in advising on debt restructuring, insolvency and distressed M&A matters. The firm has strong ability to handle matters pertaining to listed companies. It is managing a good volume of restructuring and insolvency matters from a variety of sectors, but with a particular focus on the retail sector, often acting on behalf of shareholders and debtors. The firm is involved in several landmark cases, including Camaïeu's safeguard proceedings. Nicolas Laurent and Olivier Puech co-head the practice.

Private equity: LBO Tier 2

Bredin Prat impresses with its wide private equity offering, including a strong transactional practice in addition to stellar tax structuring credentials and a strong financing team. The group regularly acts for French and international investment funds, but also assists family offices, smaller funds and shareholders of target companies in the context of buy-out operations. Domestic transactions account for the bulk of the workload, but the practice also demonstrates strength in cross-border matters, particularly in cases involving the US and Canada. Florence Haas is the key practitioner. Olivier Assant and Adrien Simon are also active in the space.

Capital markets: debt capital markets Tier 3

Bredin Prat

Dispute resolution: International arbitration Tier 3

Bredin Prat regularly represents state entities, including Arabic, European and African states, in investment disputes. The team also acts for leading French and international companies in commercial arbitration cases. It is involved in commercial, M&A, public procurement, construction and gas disputes, notably in relation to the Middle East and Africa. Louis-Christophe Delanoy, Raëd Fathallah, José María Pérez and Tim Portwood jointly head the practice.