Latham & Watkins > Paris, France > Firm Profile

Latham & Watkins > The Legal 500 Rankings

France > Banking and finance: transactional work Tier 1

Latham & Watkins ranks among the top firms for LBO acquisition finance work and sophisticated loans. The practice, which can seamlessly mix banking, high yield and unitranche expertise, assists leading financial institutions as well as private equity sponsors and several corporates. The Paris team, which regularly collaborates with its London counterparts, also advises on major refinancing deals. Carla-Sophie Imperadeiro supervises a team that includes key names Xavier Farde, Michel Houdayer and Lionel Dechmann.

France > EU, competition and distribution Tier 1

Latham & Watkins houses a comprehensive EU and competition law practice, with a particularly strong offering in the field of merger control, where the team has extensive experience in EU phase II clearances; its impressive recent caseload includes working alongside the Brussels office to advise Orange on a pending phase II merger review. The team’s expertise also extends to high-profile abuse of dominance and cartel investigations and related litigation, frequently representing clients in cases at the national and European levels. Jacques-Philippe Gunther, the vice-chair of the global antitrust and competition practice, is widely regarded as a market leader in merger control and contentious antitrust matters. Adrien Giraud, who divides his time between Paris and Brussels, and Mathilde Saltiel are also standout names in the team.

France > Insolvency Tier 1

Latham & Watkins’ restructuring team adeptly guides clients through a broad spectrum of scenarios, ranging from out-of-court pre-insolvency work-outs to intricate insolvency proceedings. In the vibrant French market, the team boasts a formidable reputation for its expertise of high-profile distressed LEO work-outs, debt-to-equity swaps, share deals, insolvency arrangements, and complex cross-border restructuring cases. At the helm is the seasoned Alexandra Bigot, who orchestrates the team’s efforts in harnessing the collective knowledge of the firm’s banking, private equity, capital market, employment, tax, and finance specialists. This depth of expertise, complemented by their industry sector insight, ensures the successful execution of restructuring endeavours. The team also includes key contacts, such as Hervé Diogo Amengual, with experience representing international clients in both transactional and litigation aspects of restructurings, alongside accomplished recently promoted partner Thomas Doyen.

France > Private equity: LBO Tier 1

The group at Latham & Watkins regularly advises major private equity houses on high-profile, large-cap LBOs. The team works closely with the firm's leveraged finance team and is bolstered by its capabilities in the finance and capital markets spaces. Disposals, restructurings, joint ventures, and M&A are also core areas of expertise. The practice is co-directed by Thomas Forschbach, Olivier Du Mottay, Gaëtan Gianasso, Denis Criton, Alexander Benedetti, Alexander Crosthwaite, Simon Lange, and Charles-Antoine Guelluy.

France > Capital markets: debt capital markets Tier 2

Latham & Watkins stands out for its combined French-US capabilities. Thomas Margenet-Baudry and  Roberto Reyes Gaskin are the key names in a team that has established itself as a reference in France for high-yield transactions, assisting issuers as well as financial advisers. It is also active advising on US private placement and also handles liability management, sustainable-linked and more standard bond issuance work. Counsel Michael Ettannani also provides support.

France > Capital markets: equity capital markets Tier 2

Latham & Watkins often assists private equity investors or their portfolio companies with ECM work, including share capital increase and convertibles work. The team regularly advises on Euronext Paris and Euronext Growth IPOs as well as on squeeze out deals. Practice head Thomas Margenet-Baudry and Roberto Reyes Gaskin, who are both French and US qualified, also regularly advise on US securities matters and on DCM transactions.

France > Data privacy and data protection Tier 2

A strong focus on the TMT industry at Latham & Watkins has seen the firm well positioned to handle a range of transactional, contentious and regulatory matters for clients from the sector. GDPR compliance, personal data transfers and advice on the use of tracking technologies are all core proficiencies for a team that is praised for being ‘very familiar’ with the CNIL. Myria Saarinen leads the team and has longstanding experience in IT litigation and data privacy issues such as unlawful data processing.

France > Derivatives and structured finance Tier 2

Latham & Watkins has extensive expertise advising asset managers, insurance companies and other financial institutions on complex structured finance and derivatives. The practice notably assists with complex regulatory challenges and transactions, including the purchase of non-performing loan portfolios from French banks, as well as French bank capital relief transactions alongside investor funds or insurers selling credit protection. Thomas Vogel and Suzana Sava-Montanari head the practice. They are supported by associate  Jaime Hall.

France > Mergers and acquisitions Tier 2

Latham & Watkins stands out for its ability to handle big-ticket global M&A transactions. The Paris-based team, which works in close collaboration with the firm’s US, Asian and European offices, assists CAC 40 companies, international corporations and investment funds. It recently advised on a deal in the automotive sector and assisted with acquisitions, sales and JV agreements pertaining to various industry sectors including retail, financial and consulting services, and technology. Practice head Pierre-Louis Cléro, Olivier du Mottay, Alexander Crosthwaite and Charles-Antoine Guelluy are the names to note.

France > Tax Tier 2

The tax practice at Latham & Watkins handles a range of transactions for companies, financial institutions and investment funds and has in-depth expertise in the structuring and negotiation of M&A and private equity transactions. In addition, the team regularly handles matters related to the tax aspects of capital markets transactions, high-yield bond issuances and IPOs, as well as structured finance and finance transactions. Practice head Xavier Renard specialises in the tax aspects of M&A transactions, especially private equity transactions. Olivia Rauch-Ravise is also an active member of the team.

France > Compliance Tier 3

Noted for its expertise across the healthcare, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, financial services and telecoms sectors, the multidisciplinary team at Latham & Watkins conducts internal investigations involving issues such as anti-corruption and anti-bribery, in addition to implementing compliance programmes. ‘An iron fist in a velvet glove’, Fabrice Fages leads the team and assists domestic and international companies in cross-border internal investigations, with the support of the ‘extremely professional, creative and rigorous’ Elise Auvray.

France > Dispute resolution: Commercial litigation Tier 3

Latham & Watkins handles a range of cases including complex commercial disputes and cross-border matters. The team is regularly retained by top investment funds to assist with heated shareholders’ conflicts, as well as acting for pharmaceutical companies in commercial and corporate disputes. The group, which also acts for a number of mutual insurance companies and various French and international corporations, also handles cases dealing with regulatory, IT and fraud issues. The practice is co-headed by Fabrice Fages and Myria Saarinen, with counsel Elise Auvray providing key support.

France > Dispute resolution: International arbitration Tier 3

Headed by Fernando Mantilla-Serran, Latham & Watkins‘ Paris-based arbitration practice houses a compact team which regularly acts in close collaboration with colleagues from the firm’s other international offices including London in representing companies and state entities. The caseload features prominent investment and commercial arbitration cases pertaining to Colombia, and notably relating to mining and environmental protection issues. Outside of its Latin America involvement, the team also regularly handles a broad range of commercial arbitration matters including those pertaining to M&A, joint venture and distribution issues. It won three victories in the course of 2023 and gained new commercial arbitration mandates relating to the pharmaceutical sector. Associates Esperanza Barrón-Baratech and Diego Romero provide additional support.

France > Employment Tier 3

Latham & Watkins' team has a broad international scope and is notable for its expertise in restructuring, social plans, collective negotiation, internal investigations and employment litigation. The firm is strengthened by the considerable expertise of cross-border specialist Matthias Rubner, who leads the practice.

France > Industry focus: Healthcare and life sciences Tier 3

The team at Latham & Watkins, praised for its ‘in-depth’ sector knowledge, particularly in relation to innovative technology in the medtech and biotech sectors. Praised by clients for her ‘mastery’ of EU regulation, Eveline Van Keymeulen heads the practice. Having deep knowledge spanning CBD regulatory issues, Van Keymeulen is well-placed to advise clients on cross-border regulatory matters. Jeanne Fabre advises numerous global biotech, medical device, and pharma companies on an array of regulatory issues, including market access, post-market obligations, and clinical trials.

France > Industry focus: IT and internet  Tier 3

With particular industry expertise in the TMT sector, Latham & Watkins is well placed to advise clients on complex transactions, regulatory matters, and data protection issues. The team is led by Jean-Luc Juhan, who is well regarded for his knowledge and expertise of transactional and commercial issues in the tech sphere.

France > Media and entertainment: Sports Tier 3

Latham & Watkins demonstrates tenacity in commercial sports matters, such as strategic financing, sponsorship deals, digital and IT agreements. Its impressive client roster includes Vivendi Sports and the International Olympic Committee. The highly experienced Jean-Luc Juhan leads the group.

Latin America: International firms > International arbitration Tier 2

Latham & Watkins LLP continues to impress the market with its notable experience in representing both Latin American states and private parties in investment treaty arbitrations; this includes a series of cases for the Republic of Colombia involving ICSID arbitrations brought by claimants relating to legislative, administrative and judicial measures introduced by the government – particularly as regards environmental and community matters. The firm is also noted for commercial arbitrations and enforcement proceedings with Paris-based global co-chair of the international arbitration practice, Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, who ‘stands out for his quick grasp of the essence of the matters’ and has long been a senior name in the region, leading on the vast majority of the firm’s Latin America cases. The hire of John V H Pierce as global co-head of the arbitration practice -from WilmerHale– in mid-2022, gives the practice considerable additional heft; and while not solely focused on the region, he does handle Latin America-related mandates. Pierce is based in New York, as is dual qualified (Colombia/New York) counsel Santiago Bejarano (‘always up-to-speed on the advice and willing to answer questions’) who is a key team member on many of the practice’s Latin America arbitration engagements; as is London-based Samuel Pape, who was elected to the partnership in January 2023. Paris associates Esperanza Barrón-Baratech (a Spanish national), Hugo Varenne and Diego Romero (who is qualified in Colombia, New York and Paris) are also key members of the team. Eugenie Caroit moved to Campos Mello Advogados in cooperation with DLA Piper as Of Counsel in mid-2023.