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De Pardieu is a market leader in mergers & acquisitions and private equity.

With a dedicated team of around 50 lawyers, we advise our clients on the design and implementation of their investment, growth, partnership and restructuring strategies.

Depending on the issues involved, each transaction is handled by an integrated multidisciplinary team of partners and associates with a recognized expertise and a wide-ranging experience in all areas of business law working in close cooperation with a shared concern for efficiency.

Through the number and variety of transactions we handle, and the diversity of issues they raise, we are able to understand and anticipate the expectations of the various market players we are advising, and to implement varied, innovative structures tailored to our clients’ needs.

We assist our clients both in France and in their international transactions thanks to our network of foreign correspondents made up of leading preferred law firms in over 50 jurisdictions, with whom we have fostered long-standing close working relationships.

Stock market transactions & capital markets
  • Strategic operations involving listed companies (public offerings, capital market financing, equity investments, activism), including in the context of financial difficulties, in cooperation with our Restructuring department,
  • Investment-related issues (thresholds crossing, declarations of intent, concerted actions, applications for a waiver or, as applicable, a dismissal decision (non-lieu) of the mandatory filing of a tender offer, etc.),
  • Listed company law (shareholders’ meetings, universal registration documents, financial and extra-financial reports, corporate governance (including issues relating to executives’ remuneration, say on pay, say on climate, profit-sharing schemes, etc.), financial and extra-financial reporting, management of regulated information, etc.).
Mergers and Acquisitions

The Firm has an outstanding reputation for its M&A experience in advising its French and international clients in all their external growth, partnerships or restructuring strategic projects, in France and abroad, across a variety of economic sectors, including food processing industry, trade and distribution, energy, hotels and leisure, industry, infrastructure, media, telecoms and financial services (FIG).

Distressed M&A
Private Equity

As one of the private equity leaders in the mid-market and upper mid-market, our Firm advises investment funds, debt funds, family businesses and management teams at every stage of their investment, both in France and in their cross-border growth transactions. Thanks to its renowned practitioners in the legal and tax structuring and LBO financing teams, the Firm benefits from a comprehensive overview of the market, enabling it to provide its clients with the best possible advice in highly competitive processes.

M&A Litigation

Our advisory services on M&A transactions naturally extend to any disputes that may arise in this context and we draw on the expertise of our litigation team as necessary. We also have a recognized expertise acquired within the regulatory authorities themselves, enabling us to assist issuers or their directors, as well as portfolio management companies before the French Commission des sanctions de l’Autorité des marchés financiers in their implication for any type of stock market breach.

Corporate Governance

Listed companies turn to us to help them prepare their annual general meetings and we advise them in either drafting the corporate governance report describing the corporate officers’ remuneration under the latest applicable “say on pay” rules and recommendations, the financial delegations to be obtained from shareholders considering the positions of the various proxy advisors, or upstream during the preparation of their “governance road shows”. We also advise our issuer clients in elaborating the composition of their boards of directors and various committees, in line with the recommendations of the governance code retained as reference code.

Real estate transactions

Within the Corporate M&A team, we have developed a sector-based approach enabling us to be involved, in close cooperation with our real estate, real estate tax and real estate finance top-tier practices, in a full range of transactions including:

  • acquisition or disposal of all types of assets or real estate portfolios
  • setting-up of joint-ventures and partnerships
  • structuring of real estate investment vehicles (regulated or unregulated – including the creation and approval of SIIC or OPCI and related management companies) and the incorporation of listed or unlisted property companies on behalf of major groups or investors
  • contribution (notably to SIIC or OPCI), sale, sale & leaseback and/or partnership.

We advise our clients on transactions covering a wide spectrum of activities, assets or asset portfolios:  Office property / Retail / Logistics / Hotels / Residential (including social and intermediate housing) / Retirement homes and care facilities / Coworking / Coliving

Latest rankings and awards

Legal 500 EMEA 2024  – France > Mergers and acquisitions (Tier 2)

“Impeccable expertise, an excellent understanding of underlying business issues and the ability to propose and implement innovative solutions and strategies.”

“High availability and responsiveness Ability to listen and understand subjects/problems, as well as to prioritize them, thus facilitating decision-making by their client. Exceptional execution and reliability.”

Legal 500 EMEA 2024  – Private equity LBO (Tier 3)

High-performance team with a complete offering for an LBO transaction. Team among the very best on the mid-cap market at a lower price than other firms. Team at the forefront of recent developments in arrangements in terms of structuring. Finally, their colleagues located elsewhere in Europe are also first-rate.”

Chambers Europe 2024

Corporate / M&A : High-end-Capability (Band 4)

“The deal was handled amazingly. Had De Pardieu not been with us, I think we would not have got through to this point today.”

Chambers Europe 2024

Private Equity (Band 4)

“De Pardieu has dedicated experts on all the topics that we need to cover.”
“The firm was excellent with us: proactive, knowledgeable and highly competent.”

ODA 2023

M&A supérieurs à 200 M€ (****)

ODA 2023

Capital innovation (*)

ODA 2023

LBO de 50 à 300 millions d’euros (****)

ODA 2023

Conseils des managers dans les opérations de LBO (*)

LE POINT 2024 – Mergers and acquisitions (*****)

LE POINT 2024 – Private equity and venture capital (****)

IFLR 1000 2024

M&A (Tier 2)

Private Equity (Band 2)

Legal 500 EMEA 2024

France > Private Equity : LBO (Tier 3)

“High-performance team with a complete offering for an LBO transaction. Team among the very best on the mid-cap market at a lower price than other firms. Team at the forefront of recent developments in arrangements in terms of structuring. Finally, their colleagues located elsewhere in Europe are also first-rate.”

“Humility. Simplicity. Efficiency”

DECIDEURS 2023

Capital investissement – Financement d’acquisitions (Incontournable)

DECIDEURS 2023

Capital investissement – Opérations LBO mid-cap (Incontournable)

DECIDEURS 2023

Capital investissement – Opérations de capital développement (Excellent)

DECIDEURS 2023

Capital investissement – Conseil aux équipes dirigeantes (Excellent)

DECIDEURS 2023

Capital investissement – Opérations de capital risque (Forte notoriété)

DECIDEURS 2023

Fusions & Acquisitions – Distressed M&A

DECIDEURS 2023

Fusions & Acquisitions – Opérations supérieures à 500 M€

DECIDEURS 2023

Marchés de Capitaux – Marchés de capitaux obligataires (DCM) (Excellent

DECIDEURS 2023

Banque & Finance – Dérivés (Excellent)

DECIDEURS 2023

Marchés de Capitaux – Marchés de capitaux actions et convertibles large cap (Forte notoriété)

DECIDEURS 2023

Banque & Finance – Titrisation & financements structurés (Forte notoriété)

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