Davis Polk’s lawyers in Paris advise leading companies in France and throughout Europe on a wide range of global corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and litigation matters. The group also has extensive experience advising U.S. clients undertaking transactions in France, as well as investment banks in deals involving French companies. Since establishing an office in Paris in 1962, the firm has developed relationships with the French government and with many French financial institutions and companies.
Our Paris office has approximately 18 lawyers and fee earners, including 5 partners who are recognized as market leaders in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, global securities offerings and other complex financings, litigation and restructurings. All of our partners in Paris are Avocats à la Cour.
Our Paris office provides a special combination of both transactional and litigation skill, which is increasingly a key part of the strategic advice that clients seek today. By combining our prominent U.S. law and cross-border practice with French law capabilities, Davis Polk offers a single, comprehensive team of lawyers to advise clients on all French, U.S. and cross-border legal issues.
Underscoring Davis Polk’s strong commitment to our French practice is our move in 2007 to a new office on the Champs-Elysées that is roughly six-times larger than our former space. The recent growth of the office coupled with Davis Polk’s expanding French law practice has led to the firm being retained in a number of the most significant recent cross-border transactions involving French companies.
View our recent experience in:
Recognition
- Davis Polk is a leader in European capital markets league tables. Some highlights in 2012 include placing 1st (among U.S. firms) as:
- Managers’ counsel in European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) equity and equity-related offerings – Bloomberg
- Managers’ counsel in EMEA IPOs – Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg
- Issuer’s counsel on EMEA secondary offerings – Thomson Reuters
- Managers’ counsel on Euromarket bond offerings – Bloomberg
- Managers’ counsel on international bonds – Thomson Reuters
- “All the lawyers are easily reachable, responsive, quick and smart. It is my go-to firm for capital markets work in Paris.’” – Chambers Europe 2012
Capital Markets
Equity
- ArcelorMittal ($4 billion). We advised the underwriters on concurrent SEC-registered offerings of stock and convertible notes by ArcelorMittal, a French leader in all major global steel markets.
- Technip (€500 million). We advised Technip in connection with the issue, placement, listing and public offering in France of bonds convertible into and/or exchangeable for new or existing shares (Oceane). Technip is a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry.
- Technicolor ($440 million). We advised Technicolor on its common stock offering. Technicolor is a French provider of solutions for the creation, management, delivery and access of video for the communications, media and entertainment industries.
Debt
- Pernod Ricard ($2.5 billion). We advised the initial purchasers on a Rule 144A/Regulation S notes offering by Pernod Ricard, the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits.
- Vivendi ($2 billion). We advised the joint bookrunners on a Rule 144A/ Regulation S notes offering by Vivendi, a leader in communications and entertainment bringing together the world’s leader in video games (Activision Blizzard), the world’s leader in music (Universal Music Group), France’s leader in alternative telecommunications (SFR), Morocco’s leader in telecoms (Maroc Telecom Group), Brazil’s leader in alternative high-speed Internet operations (GVT), and France’s leader in pay-TV (Canal+ Group).
- GDF SUEZ ($1.5 billion). We advised GDF SUEZ on its Rule 144A/Regulation S notes offering. GDF SUEZ is one of the world’s leading energy companies and is based in France.
- Société Générale ($1.25 billion). We advised the underwriters on a Section 3(a)(2) offering of senior unsecured notes by Société Générale, one of the largest European financial services groups. The notes are under Société Générale’s $25 billion medium-term note program.
- Crédit Agricole ($1 billion). We advised the managers on a Rule 144A/ Regulation S offering of senior unsecured notes by Crédit Agricole under its $20 billion senior/subordinated medium-term note program. Crédit Agricole is the lead bank of the Crédit Agricole Group, which is France’s largest banking group and one of the largest in the world based on shareholders’ equity.
- LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton ($850 million). We advised LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on its Rule 144A/Regulation S notes offering. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the parent company of the LVMH Group, which is principally engaged in the production and sale of prestigious luxury goods.
M&A
- AREVA. We advised AREVA, a provider of technological solutions for nuclear power generation, transmission and distribution, in connection with the sale of its Transmission and Distribution division (AREVA T&D) to Alstom and Schneider Electric. The enterprise value of the transaction is €4.09 billion.
- EDF. We are advising EDF, an energy company engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution, supply and trading of energies in France and internationally, on its €3 billion cash-and-share offer for 50% of the share capital of EDF Energies Nouvelles, a French market leader in renewable energy, that it does not already hold.
- TE Connectivity. We advised TE Connectivity, a Swiss electronic components manufacturer, on its $2.1 billion acquisition of Deutsch Group, a French provider of connectivity solutions for harsh environment applications, and $380 million sale of its Touch Solutions business to The Gores Group, a private equity firm.
- Technip. We are advising Technip, a French world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry, on its $1.1 billion acquisition of Global Industries, a U.S. solutions provider of subsea construction and pipelay, engineering, project management and support services, and €225 million acquisition of Stone & Webster Process Technologies and associated oil and gas engineering capabilities from The Shaw Group.
- PartnerRe. We advised Bermudan reinsurer PartnerRe on its approximately $2 billion acquisition of PARIS RE, a Swiss reinsurer. This deal was named the “European M&A Deal of the Year” at the 2010 IFLR awards.
- Valeo. We advised Valeo, a French designer and producer of automotive components, on its €320 million acquisition of Niles, a Japanese automotive supplier, and sale of its access mechanisms business to U-Shin, a Japanese producer of automotive access mechanisms.
- Eramet. We advised Eramet in connection with its €593 million acquisition of Tinfos, a Norwegian, family-owned producer of manganese alloy, which is a key element in the growing global steel industry.
- Canal+ Group. We advised Canal+ Group, a pay-television company in France, in connection with a €465 million strategic partnership involving Bolloré’s free TV channels, which include the Direct 8 and Direct Star channels. Canal+ exchanged Vivendi shares for a 60% stake in Bolloré Group’s television business.
- Groupe du Louvre. We advised Groupe du Louvre, a French subsidiary of Starwood Capital Group that has three primary business activities: luxury hotel business, budget hotel business and crystal manufacturer, on the sale four French luxury hotels to the Constellation Group: the Concorde La Fayette (950 rooms) and Hôtel du Louvre (177 rooms) in Paris, the Hôtel Martínez (409 rooms) in Cannes and the Palais de la Méditerranée (188 rooms) in Nice.
- Carrefour. We advised Carrefour, a French retailer, on the total sale of its stake to its Greek partner, the Marionopoulos family, in Carrefour-Marinopoulos, their jointly held subsidiary and exclusive franchisee of the Carrefour brand in Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Albania and other Balkan countries.