Classements Legal 500 EMEA – Tax Law 2012/2022

Legal 500 EMEA 2015/2022: Tax Law (Band 2)

De Pardieu Brocas Maffei is home to the market’s most sought after tax real estate practice thanks to practice head  Emmanuel Chauve and Alexandre Blestel who are both legends in the field. Working alongside the firm’s property practice, the duo advises leading investors on the market’s largest asset and portfolio transactions. They handle a high amount of high-end work, such as advising recently on landmark deals in the healthcare, office, hotel, retail and data center sectors. The team was also involved in a high-profile real estate M&A transaction. The tax real estate practice fits in well with the firm’s high-level M&A and private equity tax expertise. Priscilla van den Perre notably assists leading investment funds involved in large LBO transactions. Anne-Laure Drouet is another strong reference for M&A and private equity tax structuring. Counsel Arthur Leclerc is also involved. Testimonials: ‘Emmanuel Chauve has great expertise in real estate taxation.’ (2022)

De Pardieu Brocas Maffei is widely recognised as the market’s go-to-firm for property tax work, in line with the firm’s stellar reputation in the real estate sector. The tax team, which advises on the tax structuring of property transactions handled by the firm, assists many leading property funds and developers with the tax aspects of their largest property investment projects. In the group’s impressive caseload are the structurings of most of the market’s recent landmark office, retail, residential, hotel asset and portfolio transactions. The practice notably advised on the sale of Engie’s zero-carbon emission future global head office. Practice head Emmanuel Chauve and Alexandre Blestel are superstars in their field. The large team also has strong abilities in other areas, particularly in private equity thanks to the excellent Priscilla van den Perre. The transactional tax practice was strengthened in 2020 following the arrivals of Anne-Laure Drouet (ex Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats) and counsel Arthur Leclerc (ex senior manager at Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats). (2021)

De Pardieu Brocas Maffei’s well-staffed practice is known as a powerhouse in the market for property tax work. In recent highlights, the team assisted Carrefour and its co-investors with the €900m sale of listed property company Cargo Property Assets, as well as SNCF with the €1.5bn sale of Foncière Vesta. Practice head Emmanuel Chauve and the ‘brilliant and very committed‘ Alexandre Blestel are well regarded for their property tax expertise. In addition, the practice has great resources for LBO and private equity transactions thanks to the promising Priscilla van den Perre, who was recently promoted to partner. The team was bolstered by the hiring of new corporate tax partner Anne-Laure Drouet, who joined from Ernst & Young Société d’Avocats. Testimonials: ‘The team is really expert and follows a straight to-the-point business approach’ ‘The best real estate tax team in Paris. They always find the best solutions, and are very professional, and very friendly’ ‘The team is available, has an excellent level of expertise and provides very relevant advice with much added value. Lawyers are practical, very efficient, very involved and have exceptional proficiency, never making any mistake’ ‘Emmanuel Chauve and his team always have everything under control’ ‘Alexandre Blestel is brilliant and very committed. His high-level tax expertise is complemented by great financial skills, providing him with a broader view of the issues faced by his clients’ ‘Priscilla Van Den Perre is an excellent tax adviser who provides highly relevant advice, has great and swift judgement, and is very commercial’ (2020)

De Pardieu Brocas Maffei has ‘in-depth understanding of its customers’ business, is highly responsive, has the ability to provide a bird’s eye view as well as dig into the details of a given issue, and is well connected with the tax authorities’. The 17-lawyer team is able to cover a large spectrum of tax issues. The group has leading expertise in the tax real estate space and regularly handles headline work in the market in this area. It notably assisted Covivio Hotels with the €976m acquisition of a luxury hotels portfolio in the UK, which consisted of 14 hotels; advised Henderson Park on the acquisition of Hotel Westin Paris-Vendôme; and acted for Foncière des Murs on the merger-absorption of FDM Management. ‘Trusted adviser’ Emmanuel Chauve has ‘strong technical expertise’ and is an expert in tax real estate. Alexandre Blestel, who is also highly regarded for real estate and corporate tax issues, ‘provides excellent tax advice and is very thorough’. The practice also handles the tax-related aspects of debt capital markets and banking, while litigation is another strength. It also has strong private equity and corporate tax expertise. It assisted InVivo Retail with the acquisition of Jardiland.’ (2019)