Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2002, Alexandra Munoz specialises in international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. She acts as counsel in international arbitration and litigation proceedings in various sectors including energy, infrastructures and telecommunications.
Alexandra advises major French or foreign companies as well as governments in contractual disputes (joint ventures, distribution agreements, construction, public service concessions, State contracts, reinsurance) and in cases related to the protection of investments within the context of ad hoc or institutional arbitral proceedings (ICC, OHADA, ICSID). She also has experience in resolving disputes through conciliation and mediation.
Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.
Lawyers
Alexandre Gauthier is a partner within Gide's Public and Environment Law practice group, specialising more particularly in real estate development and public law.
Alexandre advises developers, property companies and investors on their development projects, as regards land control, designing urban development concepts and the legal conditions thereof (defining the required approvals, monitoring procedures and authorisations review).
He has developed a recognised expertise in the conversion and restructuring of public assets, in particular via the creation of complex contractual systems in the public or private domain of public entities with a view to enhancing value. In this regard, Alexandre has assisted in a number of public asset disposal plans, namely of real estate.
Additionally, Alexandre practices litigation, giving him an overall overview of stakes when structuring operations.
Alexandre Durand is a partner in Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions department. Member of the Paris Bar, he specialises in mergers and acquisitions and securities law. He mainly advises listed and unlisted companies, family groups and private equity funds on their strategic and cross-border projects.
Alexis Pailleret is a partner within Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group in Paris.
He acts on M&A transactions (acquisition, disposals, joint ventures) mainly in the infrastructure and energy sectors, alongside the firm's Public Law & Environment, and Projects (Finance & Infrastructure), and Banking & Finance practice groups.
Within these sectors, Alexis advises investment funds, major corporates, lenders and developers, on both domestic and cross-border transactions.
Ali Osman Ak is a partner of Gide's correspondent firm in Turkey, Özdirekcan Dündar Senocak. Admitted to the Istanbul Bar in 2003, Ali Osman regularly advises Turkish and foreign investors on their corporate and commercial disputes and represents them before Turkish civil and administrative courts. He also acts on all issues relating to bankruptcy, commercial litigation, employment and real estate matters.
He also has recognised expertise in employment law matters and assists a number of companies in their human resources management, hiring and dismissal issues.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2002, associate Alice Bouillié specialises in environmental law. Alice works with clients in an advisory and litigation capacity in matters pertaining to industrial environment law (facilities classified for environmental protection, law related to water, soil pollution, waste), nuclear and energy law, as well as in mining and extractive operations law. She advises industrial clients on all aspects of environmental law, particularly as part of acquisition projects, and assists them before administrative, civil and criminal courts.
Alice has been providing training in nuclear law at Paris Descartes University since January 2016. She conducted training in environment law at the Higher Institute for Real Estate Careers (Ecole Supérieure des Professions Immobilières, ESPI) from 2006 to 2014.
Admitted to the Tunis Bar, Anis Jabnoun is the partner in charge of Global Lawyers North Africa (GLN-A), in exclusive partnership with Gide in Tunisia since January 2012.
With over 17 years' practice in Tunisia, Anis Jabnoun acts primarily in M&A and corporate law (acquisitions, capital operations, public offerings) in the banking and finance sector, and offers advice to Tunisian and foreign investors (foreign-exchange regulations, direct foreign investments, joint ventures).
Anis has been involved in major Tunisian M&A transactions with respect to companies carrying out banking, financial, industrial, agri-food and services activities, as well as financing carried in Tunisia in particular by international financial institutions (IFC, EIB, EBRD, AFD, KfW, AFC, etc.).
Anis assists on a regular basis international leading business law firms on Tunisian law aspects in the context of transnational transactions, including Skadden, Hogan Lovells, Arthur Cox, Linklaters LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright, Eckert, Gleiss Lutz, Noerr LLP, Legance, Bacciardi, Chiomenti, Bomchil, Sidley Austin, Alston & Bird, Ashurst, Bowmans, Clyde & Co, Arendt et Akerman LLP.
Anis has developed a strong experience in business law litigation, economic concentrations and competition law.
Anne Tolila is a partner in Gide's M&A/Corporate practice. She is mainly involved in M&A transactions, particularly for public entities (State or strategic companies), and large industrial groups and also in private equity transactions, both for French and international clients (industrial companies or investment funds).
Anne has also developed a particular expertise in privatisations
Anne Le Quinquis is a partner in Gide's Employment Law team in Paris. She specialises in employment law.
She advises major French and international groups and banks on major transactions (acquisitions, disposals, IPOs, etc.).
She is also recognised for her expertise in litigation, particularly in the implementation of social reorganisations and corporate restructuring.
Partner Antoine de la Gatinais is a member of Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group. A specialist in private equity matters, he regularly acts on leveraged buy-outs and growth equity operations for French and foreign managers and investment funds.
With over twenty years' professional experience, he acts on all types of transactions (M&A, joint ventures, minority or majority investments) in all business sectors (distribution, automotive, manufacturing industry, real estate etc.).
Antoine headed Gide's office in Shanghai for six years. He regularly advises Asian clients, especially Chinese companies, on French and European law issues.
Antoine Tézenas du Montcel is partner in Gide Loyrette Nouel's Mergers Acquisitions practice group.
His practice covers mergers and acquisitions, company law and securities law. He mainly works on mergers and acquisitions, with a focus on listed companies.
He also has experience in IPOs, securities offerings and private investments in public equity.
Antoine Lelong is a partner in Gide Loyrette Nouel's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate Department. He advises on a wide range of M&A transactions, including acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, equity investments, issues of equity securities and corporate reorganizations (mergers, spin offs, contributions in kind...), both in France and abroad.
He also regularly advises on company law and corporate governance issues.
He has developed expertise in M&A in the banking, financial and retail sectors, and has also acquired a good understanding of the specificities of M&A transactions in the real estate, energy and infrastructure sectors.
Arnaud Duhamel is a partner within Gide's Banking & Finance practice group, and specialises in international capital markets and structured finance. He shares his time between Paris and London.
His recent experience includes IPOs, right issues, equity-linked transactions and a number of French privatisations. His field of expertise also covers international debt financing and restructuring, ranging from medium-term note programmes to senior and hybrid securities, high yield bond offerings, repackagings as well as structured financings and products incorporating derivative instruments. Arnaud contributes significantly to the Firm's finance practice in emerging markets.
Arpat Senocak is a partner of Gide and of its correspondent firm in Turkey, Özdirekcan Dündar Senocak Ak. He specialises in merger & acquisition transactions and in the structuring of investments. Arpat has been advising Turkish and international investors for close to 20 years in various business areas, with a specific focus on regulated sectors such as financial services (banking, insurance) and energy (oil & gas, renewable energy). He gained significant experience in the handling of multijurisdictional transactions during his secondment at Gide's Paris M&A department, during which he advised on a number of cross-border transactions. In this context, Arpat also regularly assists Turkish clients in the scope of their outbound investments and M&A transactions abroad.
Admitted to the Neuchâtel (Switzerland) Bar in 2003 and to the Istanbul (Turkey) Bar in 2008, he is a graduate from the Neuchâtel University Law School and holds an equivalency degree from the Istanbul University Law School. Arpat is the Chairman of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in Turkey.
Arzu Bekem is a member of Intellectual and Industrial Property department of Istanbul Office. She specializes in intellectual property, advising local and foreign clients on trademarks, designs, copyright, IP litigation and prosecution matters. She also pleads before commercial, civil and criminal IP-specialized courts, and regularly acts on Uniformed Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) before WIPO. She supports the IP team on seizures and destruction of counterfeit products throughout Turkey on behalf of major multinational companies.
Along with being an experienced litigation attorney in IP Law, Arzu is also skilled in trademark and industrial design portfolio management as being a qualified trademark attorney and managing portfolios of companies through Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. She handles all types of IP related civil and criminal actions and execute the IP & IT related contract processes. She conducts IP rights portfolio management for the clients which are international companies active in food, food supplement, cosmetics, medicines, luxury goods, textile, automotive, hospitality and many other sectors.
She was licensed by the Istanbul Bar Association and graduated with an LLM from the University of Surrey. As an Active member of AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle), she is currently working as Moderator of Legislative Monitoring and Compilation Working Group.
She specializes in intellectual property, advising local and foreign clients on trademarks, designs, copyright, IP litigation and prosecution matters. She also pleads before commercial, civil and criminal IP-specialized courts, and regularly acts on Uniformed Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) before WIPO. She supports the IP team on seizures and destruction of counterfeit products throughout Turkey on behalf of major multinational companies. Along with being an experienced litigation attorney in IP Law, Arzu is also skilled in trademark and industrial design portfolio management as being a qualified trademark attorney and managing portfolios of companies through Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. She handles all types of IP related civil and criminal actions and execute the IP & IT related contract processes. She conducts IP rights portfolio management for the clients which are international companies active in food, food supplement, cosmetics, medicines, luxury goods, textile, automotive, hospitality and many other sectors.
Axelle Toulemonde is a partner within the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group. She headed the corporate and M&A practice of the Moscow office from 2007 to 2011. She also spent two years working in the Prague office from 1997 to 1999.
Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions as well as joint ventures, in particular in an international context. She has specific expertise in M&A deals and investments in technology companies. She also has significant experience in energy, infrastructure and real estate M&A transactions.
Partner Bénédicte Mazel is a member of Gide's Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) and Public Law practice groups in Paris. She supports industrial customers, investors and banks in these operations, including litigation.
She works in all areas of public business law, with a particular emphasis on defence issues (public procurement, licensing, export control, regulatory) and has extensive experience in (i) construction, operation and financing of public facilities and infrastructures; (ii) public sector institutional restructuring operations, from the valuation of public assets to the outsourcing of services; and (iii) public sector funding.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2012, Benjamin Krief is a partner in Gide's Employment Law Department in Paris. Benjamin specialises in labour law and practices in both individual and collective labour relations. He particularly assists transnational groups in the management of their strategic litigation, such as collective litigation initiated by staff representation bodies, industrial tribunal litigation concerning senior executives or sensitive issues such as harassment, discrimination or the status of whistleblowers. Benjamin is also very active in the defence of intermediation platforms with regard to litigation initiated by drivers/delivery personnel seeking recognition of employee status
In addition to litigation, Benjamin also assists his clients in the implementation of their reorganisation projects (transfer, voluntary redundancy plan, etc.) and has built up a speciality in the context of information and consultation procedures with staff representation bodies.
Benjamin is also a Doctor of Law from the University of Paris II - Panthéon-Assas. He wrote a thesis under the supervision of Professor Bernard Teyssié entitled "Essai sur l'émergence d'un droit européen de la représentation collective" which received the prize of the University of Paris II - Panthéon-Assas, of the UIMM and of the cabinet Voltaire. He regularly publishes articles in specialised journals and lectures in various Master 2 courses.
Counsel Benjamin Delaunay practises within Gide's Investment Funds and Financial Services team. He assists management companies, credit institutions and French and foreign investors on all issues pertaining to banking and financial regulations, in particular in the areas of financial services and asset management law.
His three main areas of specialisation are:
- Structuring, and drafting documentation for investment funds (OPCVM, FIA), in particular in the real estate (SCPI and OPCI), private equity and infrastructure (FCPR, FCPI, FIP, FPCI, FPS, holding) sectors;
- Banking and finance disputes before the French financial markets authority (Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)) and the French prudential supervision and resolution authority (Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution (ACPR)) during inspection, enquiries, and disciplinary procedures before the sanction commission;
- Advising French and foreign financial entities on the regulatory aspects of their activities, in particular on issues of licence, European passport, internal organisation and control, compliance, KYC/money-laundering, marketing financial products, and implementing corporate operations (restructuring, acquisition, transformation, liquidation) carried out by these entities or investment funds.
Benoît Le Bret has recognised experience in competition law, particularly in the field of State aid (financial services, transport, environment, energy, agriculture) and cartels.
Benoît specialises in various European regulations (structural funds, gambling, transport and aerospace, energy, telecoms, e-commerce) and is able to draw on a particularly high level of expertise gained in financial services and transport. He has in-depth knowledge and understanding of internal market rules and of community actors and procedures (legislative co-decision, complaints and infringements, EU budget), and has a wealth of experience in negotiating with the EU Commission as well as EU agencies and authorities such as ESMA.
He currently represents and advises clients in the private equity and venture capital industry for all EU-relevant regulatory matters, as well as large firms such as KKR and SNCF respectively for portfolio companies-related matters and for EU railway reforms and possible State aid. He handles State aid cases in various Member States (France, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, the UK, Estonia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece) and sectors (automotive, healthcare, electricity etc.).
Benoît regularly drafts complaints to the EU Commission to redress or protect the interests of his clients in a broad range of sectors, including the press, tax, environment, public tenders, gambling, energy and mining. For instance, following a complaint regarding the violation of EU public tender law, Benoît successfully contributed to restoring Alstom's access to a major contract in Romania.
Bertrand Oldra became a partner of the Paris Real Estate team in 2007, where he works predominantly on acquisitions, property development transactions, and property restructuring. He actively participates in the evolution of real estate practices (co-working, co-living, smartgrids, etc.) and has recognized expertise in resolving conflicts involving real estate assets, both in court and through mediation. He frequently acts for international clients, both in France and abroad.
Recent experience includes the acquisition and sale of a number of properties (direct acquisition or acquisition of corporate shares) with a view to their restoration, leasing or sale; acquisition of real estate developers; overseeing the construction of office developments and shopping centres; drawing up crisis exit strategies; and general real estate disputes.
Clients include J.P. Morgan Asset Management, AEW, , Apsys, Bouygues Immobilier, Crédit Agricole, la Caisse d'Epargne, Decathlon, Foncière Atland, Qatari National Bank, Disney.
Bertrand is the author and co-author of various articles on real estate law, and is a regular speaker at conferences.
Partner Bertrand Jouanneau is a member within Gide’s Tax practice group.
He specialises in French and international tax law. He regularly advises on property-based transactions, real estate tax, structuring and restructuring of real estate investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and tax litigation.
He has recently provided tax advice to:
A Middle-East investment fund on acquiring a portfolio of real estate assets
Several asset management companies on creating and structuring French investment funds (La Française AM, OTC AM, etc.)
Viveris Reim on acquiring several portfolios of real estate assets
Casino Group on outsourcing real estate assets
BNP Paribas on restructuring one of its funds
Several foreign investors on acquiring and managing real estate assets in France.
Bertrand Jouanneau is a frequent speaker on tax law issues.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2015, associate Bertrand Garrandaux specialises in real estate and corporate law.
Bertrand is regularly involved in real estate acquisition and sale operations, both for French and foreign clients. He also acts on retail leases.
Bertrand is a graduate of Audencia Nantes, Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne University, and holds a Master's degree in French and English corporate law from Paris-Sud University.
Advocate, Partner, Head of the Real Estate Practice
Bruno Quentin is a partner within Gide's Criminal and Commercial Litigation practice group. He specialises in pre-litigation and litigation work in the fields of corporate, banking and finance, corporate restructuring, contract and media law.
He advises listed and non-listed companies as well as private clients on civil, commercial and criminal proceedings. He frequently represents public and political figures (ministers before the Court of Justice of the Republic, MPs and the chairpersons of local authorities).
Bülent Özdirekcan is a partner of Gide's correspondent firm in Turkey, Özdirekcan Dündar Şenocak. He has been advising major local and foreign corporation in their investments in Turkey since 1998 and specialises in corporate, mergers & acquisition and restructuring operations for listed and non-listed companies with private or public capital, particularly in the automotive, banking & insurance, energy and real estate sectors. He also handles all taxation aspects pertaining to the aforementioned transactions, including those arising from foreign funding.
Bülent Özdirekcan is mainly specialized in corporate, restructuring, mergers & acquisition operations, for listed or non-listed companies in stock exchange, with private or public capitals, particularly in the energy, banking, insurance, real estate and automobile industry sectors. He also handles any taxation aspects of the aforementioned transactions.
In this respect, Bülent Özdirekcan coordinates straight forward as well complex merger & acquisition transactions to the benefit of foreign and Turkish investors in their inbound or outbound investments. He also advises his foreign clients on tax matters arising from their stand-alone projects which could be within or outside the scope of a merger & acquisition transaction such as drilling activities in sea for prospection of petroleum, construction of wind-farm generators, construction of ships and complex funding provided by non-Turkish resident entities or structuring of funding for foreign banks.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 1998, Capucine Bernier is specialised in insurance law and civil liability. She works more particularly in disputes pertaining to non-life insurance (damages, civil and professional liability, industrial risks, construction insurance) as well as life insurance and mutual insurance. She advises and assists both traditional and bank insurers, and various industrial players in the management of disputes that are either sensitive or have a major strategic and economic impact.
Carole Malinvaud is a partner at Gide Paris where she co-heads the international arbitration activity of the firm and chairs the Gide Pro Bono endowment fund. Carole is a member of the Paris and New York Bars and has acted as counsel or arbitrator in over eighty international arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc and institutional, as well as before domestic French courts in relation to international litigation and arbitration.
Specialising in international commercial law, and more particularly in international arbitration, Carole has recently been focusing on arbitrations relating to construction, energy and defence, under the rules of the ICC and ICSID. She also acts as arbitrator in several ICC and ICSID arbitrations.
Admitted to the Paris and New York Bars, partner Caroline Lan specialises in private equity and M&A. She advises executive teams in the structuring / restructuring of management incentive plans in connection with leveraged management buyouts (LMBOs), IPOs and with respect to build-ups and takeovers. She is also involved in the implementation of employee share ownership plans. Caroline also assists clients in the governance of listed companies. Before joining Gide, Caroline Lan was a partner in the Corporate & Securities department of Mayer Brown Paris. Caroline holds a Masters in Business Law, Taxation and Accounting from the Faculty of Law of Aix-en-Provence and a Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of Connecticut - Uconn Law School (USA).
Partner Charles de Reals is a member of Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group. He focuses on complex merger-acquisition transactions involving both listed and private companies. He is recognised as an expert on corporate governance issues and securities law, and regularly represents French and foreign companies on strategic disputes.
A member of the Paris bar since 2012, Charles Terdjman specialises in French and EU competition law (cartels, abuse of dominance, merger control) and acts as counsel and litigator before the French Competition Authority, the European Commission and their appeal courts.
Charles has developed a solid expertise in merger control, in particular in the context of major multi-filings or transactions requiring commitments and/or the opening of an in-depth investigation phase.
He has developed particular experience in advising clients during dawn raid operations and their subsequent litigations before the appeal courts, as well as in complex anti-competitive practices, including cartels and abuses involving intellectual property rights.
Charles also regularly intervenes in distribution law and consumer law.
He has recently advised groups such as Avril, Saint-Gobain or Phoenix Pharma (merger control), Jacobs Douwe Egberts or Drouot (abuse of dominance), Nintendo or Stihl (vertical restraints).
Charles is a member of the Association des Avocats Pratiquant le Droit de la Concurrence (APDC).
Charles-Eric Delamare-Deboutteville is a Counsel within Gide's Insurance, Industrial Risks & Transport practice group. He specialises in French and EC insurance law.
Charles-Eric has wide-ranging experience of all issues related to insurance law, and regularly advises:
- Insurers and reinsurers on company regulatory matters, prudential regulations in particular;
- On drafting and analysing the validity of life and non-life insurance contracts, as well as auditing insurance cover and programmes;
- On all types of issues related to the distribution of insurance products and insurance mediation activities, in particular as regards setting up the distribution of insurance products for all kinds of businesses.
Chloé Bouhours joined Gide Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group in 2017.
Chloé focuses primarily on M&A transactions, fundraising transactions and the implementation of strategic partnerships, mainly in the infrastructure, energy and natural capital sectors. She acts for investment funds, major corporates and developers, in France and abroad.
Chloé graduated from Sciences Po Paris in economic law and from Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne University in international business and tax law. She also studied public affairs and international relations at Universidad Externado de Colombia and worked at the economic department of the French Embassy in Colombia.
Chloé speaks French, English and Spanish.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2012, Chloé Joachim-de Larivière is an associate within Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group in Casablanca, specialising in mergers & acquisitions, private equity and corporate law in the North Africa region.
Her expertise covers acquisitions and mergers of public and private companies as well as major restructuring transactions in the following sectors: Retail (Carrefour, Label' Vie), Consumer Goods (Mondelez, Cosumar, Decathlon), Health and Pharmaceuticals (NovoNordisk, Bayer, Pfizer, Fresenius Medical Care), Hospitality (Groupe Palmeraie), Automotive (Volvo, Renault, Honda), Energy (Engie, Veolia).
Chloé Joachim-de Larivière started her qualified legal career in 2011 at Clifford Chance, in the Corporate and M&A team in Paris before joining the team of four lawyers opening their Casablanca office in 2012. At this period, she was also seconded as General Legal Counsel of Mondelez International (in charge of the North Africa Region) in Casablanca during six months. She joined Gide Casablanca in 2015.
Chloé Joachim-de-Larivière holds a postgraduate degree in Corporate and Tax Law (Magistère - DJCE) and a Master in business law from Paris II University. She is admitted to the Paris Bar and she speaks French and English.
Tax partner Christian Nouel has extensive experience in M&A transactions and in the structuring of acquisitions for private equity funds and large companies.
He advises, on a day-to-day basis, companies on their tax affairs, and entrepreneurs as shareholders of companies. In addition, he manages tax audits with the French tax authorities.
Christian Camboulive is a partner within Gide's Dispute Resolution practice group. He specialises in arbitration, international contract law and international law. He acts as counsel and arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings, both institutional and ad hoc. He also appears before the French courts in arbitration-related matters, such as setting aside proceedings.
He has acted in over one hundred arbitration disputes, conducted under various arbitration rules, including ICC, ICSID, Association For Arbitration (Association Française d'Arbitrage), OHADA, VIAC, CAS and UNCITRAL, relating notably to investment protection, infrastructure projects and construction, joint ventures and post-acquisition issues, distribution and licence agreements, in a wide range of sectors including energy and natural resources, defence, banking, public infrastructures, healthcare and consumer products.
Christophe Eck is a partner in Gide Loyrette Nouel's Mergers-Acquisitions/Corporate practice group. He specialises on mergers & acquisitions, private equity, stock exchange regulation and corporate law. His expertise covers acquisitions and mergers of public and private companies as well as restructuring transactions. He frequently works on cross-border deals in various parts of the world including Asia and Africa. Christophe Eck is highly recommended by clients for his pragmatic and business-oriented advice. His practice places particular emphasis on cross-border M&A work. Christophe is particularly noted for his work in Africa (Chambers Global). Christophe Eck is a "first rate" (Who's Who Legal). In addition, Christophe has experience in litigation relating to these practice areas and has represented clients before the national courts and arbitral tribunals as well as in infrastructure and mining projects.
Christopher Szostak is UK- and French-qualified. He has been with the Gide real estate team since 2000.
Christopher advises clients in a wide breadth of industry segments including offices, retail, residential, logistics, self-storage, hotels and serviced residential.
He advises on all issues involving real estate with an emphasis on investment (acquisitions and disposals of portfolios and individual assets, joint ventures), and large-scale development work. He also has a lease and litigation practice. He acts on behalf of investors (listed property companies, funds, financial institutions), operators and end-users.
Key clients include AEW, Allianz, Bluespace, Fiminco, Ghelamco, Hammerson, Humanis, Kerzner, Klépierre, Macquarie, Medici Living Group, Mercialys, Mindston, Orange, Sonder, The Student Hotel, Urban Campus, Viacom and a prominent middle-eastern sovereign wealth fund.
Christopher is fluent in French, English and Polish.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2017, Clément Bouvarel is an associate within the International Trade and Competition Law team. He specialises in International trade defence instrument (antidumping, antisubsidy and Safeguard procedures), European law (FTA, trade barrier regulation, customs) and WTO law.
Clément's expertise covers European Union trade defence investigations, third countries trade defence investigation (Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Gulf Cooperation Council), WTO law, European export control and trade sanctions and disputes before European Courts.
He notably assisted the European steel industry against unfair practices from various countries as well as the Spanish ceramic industry in Moroccan and Gulf cooperation council anti-dumping proceedings. Clement also specialises in advisory and regulatory assistance for trade related issues such as FTA and WTO compliance in several industrial sectors (steel, metallurgical goods, manufactured goods, energy, agriculture, paper...).
Clément studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (Law, Economy and Management department) and holds a Master's Degree (Master 1) in European Law from Rennes I University, a Master's Degree (Master 2) in International Trade Law from Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and a Master in Laws (LL.M) from Trinity College Dublin. He speaks French and English.
Colin Graham is a partner in the energy group of Gide Loyrette Nouel's London office. He has more than 20 years of experience and is particularly recognized for his expertise in development projects in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors.
Colin's practice covers corporate and commercial projects and M&A work, with particular specialisation in international Oil & Gas, LNG, Power and Resources. Colin has worked on major gas value chain project developments in recent years, including as project counsel for all aspects of the Shah Deniz phase II development, the Trans-Adriatic, Trans-Anatolian, Trans-Asia, Nabucco, South-East Europe and IGI-Poseidon gas pipelines including gas transportation, sales, operations codes and treaties.
In the LNG value chain, he has been active in LNG liquefaction and LNG trading projects, including LNG price arbitrations. Colin also has expertise on demand creation projects linking LNG regasification with gas-fired power, such as the Cameroon LNG project and recent LNG sales into West Africa and Latin America.
Colin also works in the electricity sector, particularly in the context of regulatory regimes and the development of nuclear, thermal and gas-to-power projects in emerging markets.
Colin is qualified in England & Wales, Hong Kong and Ontario (non-practicing). He is fluent in French, Mandarin and Spanish.
Constantin Miliotis assists French and international players with all legal issues related to the real estate value chain: investments & arbitrations, structuring of joint ventures and investment vehicles (regulated or not), real estate project set-up and development, construction, asset management and financing.
He works on all types of real estate assets (offices, retail and shopping centres, hotels, residential, student, senior and nursing homes, leisure centres, etc.), for a wide variety of players in the real estate industry (real estate companies, investors, developers, fund and asset managers, first tier users, etc.).
In 2022, Constantin assisted the Icawood fund with all its acquisition, development and leasing operations; AOG with the sale of a majority stake and the establishment of a partnership to develop the "Pointe Amont de l'Île Seguin" in Boulogne-Billancourt; BNP Paribas Real Estate with several of its real estate developments; and Novaxia with numerous joint ventures ("copromotions").
Constantin holds a Master's degree in real estate and construction law from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas.
Attorney-at-law, Partner, Head of the M&A, Corporate Law, Tax, Competition and Commercial Contracts, Capital Markets Practice
Hall of fame
David Jonin is a partner in the Employment Law practice group. He specialises in employment and social protection law. He advises French and international companies on major assignments and also represents their interests during any related litigation.
David Jonin has recently advised international groups on issues of restructuring, reorganisation and working conditions. He provides legal advice and litigation services for French and foreign companies on employment law issues (company restructurings and reorganisations, staff representative bodies and trade unions, working conditions, union and employee representative elections) and social protection law (social contributions, workplace work-related accidents and illnesses, social security contributions inspections, provident schemes, pensions).
David Boitout, partner, specialises in mergers, joint ventures and cross-border acquisitions with a particular focus on transactions in and from growth markets. With more than 24 years of experience, including 15 years as managing partner of the Gide Shanghai office and Gide China, he has extensive experience advising leading European corporates on their cross-border acquisitions and foreign operations in the complex and uncertain legal environment of emerging economies. He also advises major players from growth markets investing in Europe.
In addition to his focus on China-related transactions, whether inbound or outbound, in various sectors (industrial, real estate, retail, tourism, banking and finance), David has developed and been involved in the M&A aspects of infrastructure and privatisation in France, China and Africa.
David is in charge of Gide’s practice in Asia and shares his time between Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
David-James Sebag is a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions group, and shares his time between Gide Loyrette Nouel's New York and Paris offices. David-James practice focuses primarily on M&A, Venture Capital, Growth and Private Equity with a concentration on cross-border transactions.
David-James represents a large number of international companies and private equity funds for their French investments, and advises companies in their numerous operations (acquisitions, partnerships, or financings) in France and in the US. He regularly counsels private equity investors, corporate clients and entrepreneurs on successful M&A, VC and growth transactions, with an focus on technology, healthcare and foreign-investment sensitive industries.
David-James Sebag is Co-Head of Gide's VC global practice group and Head of the New York office.
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the Capital Markets, Corporate Law and Private Equity/Venture Capital practices
Admitted to the Paris and New York Bars, Diane Jouffroy joined Gide in 2015 as an associate in its Paris office. Her practice focuses primarily on corporate law, private equity, venture capital and mergers and acquisitions.
Diane graduated from Paris West University Nanterre La Défense law school (Master's degree in French and Anglo-American law) and holds an LL.M. from New York University.
Didier G. Martin is a partner in Gide Loyrette Nouel's Mergers-Acquisitions/Corporate Department. His practice covers mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities law and corporate governance. He mainly works on mergers and acquisitions, including listed companies, and frequently advises on cross-border transactions.
He also handles disputes. He is listed as "leading individual" in the Mergers & Acquisitions section of several legal guides (Chambers Global, EMEA Legal 500).
He recently advised URW for a joint venture with Predica and La Française, Accor for the transfer of its activity Hotel Invest to a joint-venture controlled by an investors' pool, Zimmer Biomet for the acquisition of Medtech, followed by a takeover bid, Nexity for the acquisition of the property developer Edouard Denis, Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) for the hive down of part of its activities, Accor in connection with the transfer of 85 hotels to a Joint-venture with Eurazeo, Deutsche Bank on the sale of 5% of the share capital of Renault to the French State, Unibail on the transfer to Wereldhave of a portfolio of companies holding shopping malls, Econocom on the exchange offer on Osiatis, Tikehau on the take over of Salvepar, Silic on its combination with Icade through an exchange offer.
His recent assignments in M&A include advising:
- URW for a joint venture with Predica and La Française,
- Accor for the transfer of its activity Hotel Invest to a joint-venture controlled by an investors' pool,
- Zimmer Biomet for the acquisition of Medtech, followed by a takeover bid,
- Nexity for the acquisition of the property developer Edouard Denis,
- Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) for the hive down of part of its activities,
- Accor in connection with the transfer of 85 hotels to a Joint-venture with Eurazeo,
- Deutsche Bank on the sale of 5% of the share capital of Renault to the French State,
- Unibail on the transfer to Wereldhave of a portfolio of companies holding shopping malls,
- Econocom on the exchange offer on Osiatis,
- Tikehau on the take over of Salvepar, followed by a takeover bid,
- Silic on its combination with Icade through an exchange offer.
Dimitri Dimitrov is admitted to the Paris Bar and is a member of Gide's Competition & International Trade practice group since 2002. He acquired an extensive experience, in both litigation and advice, in all fields of economic law (competition and distribution law, defective products, consumers' protection, advertising etc.).
He is notably experienced in the field of cooperation agreements and distribution, in France and abroad, and represents companies in litigation proceedings before French and EU authorities (vertical practices, cartels and abuse of dominant position) and courts (claims for compensation, agency law, sudden termination of established commercial relationships and other restrictive practices).
Dimitri advises on a regular basis French and foreign companies for the implementation of compliance programs and merger control. He has handled over the recent years several complex multijurisdictional merger control cases.
He has developed an activity dedicated to Life Sciences, which covers all needs in this domain (regulatory assistance, ethics rules and interactions with medical practitioners, product liability etc.).
Dimitri has recently been involved in cases for reference clients such as Phoenix Pharma, Volvo Constructions Europe, Stihl, Total, Ajinomoto, BMW, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), Michelin, Total etc.
Dimitrios Logizidis, partner in Gide's London office, specialises in banking and structured finance where he advises financial institutions, private equity funds and corporates on a wide range of asset-backed financing, securitisation, covered bonds and general corporate finance deals. In particular, Dimitrios has acted for arrangers, private equity funds and originators in major whole business and trade receivable securitisation transactions involving amounts of up to EUR 4 billion. He has also been involved in a number of multi-jurisdictional ABCP conduit deals, including in emerging countries, where securitisation was implemented for the first time.
He notably advised the arrangers on the Hertz and Fraikin whole business securitisations, and Europcar / Eurazeo and ALD Automotive / Société Générale on their respective whole business transactions. He has also advised BNP Paribas on a EUR 650 million international trade receivables ABCP securitisation programme arranged in twelve different jurisdictions worldwide (including Poland, Czech Republic and Canada) for Teva, the leading generic drugs manufacturer. He recently acted for KGHM in relation to a USD 2,5 billion revolving syndicated club deal, one of the most significant transactions of its type carried out in Europe for 2014.
Dimitrios is qualified both as an English solicitor and French avocat and advises on English and French law transactions.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2018, Dounia El Aissaoui specialises in real estate acquisitions, leases, construction law and real estate development.
Dounia advises Moroccan and international professionals on real estate transactions and on all types of assets (industrial, offices, retail, hotels, housing).
Attorney to the New York and Paris Bars, Edouard Bourguet is an associate within Gide's Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice group. He advises public authorities, sponsors and financial institutions in relation to the development and financing of projects in the energy (grid-connected thermal and renewable power plants, decentralised energy production), infrastructure (transport, water and waste treatment, social infrastructure) and telecommunications sectors, in particular in Europe and Africa.
In the Legal 500 EMEA 2023 guide, Edouard is mentioned "Other Key Lawyer" in "Energy" category.
"Edouard Bourguet is a hard-worker and always very clear in his recommendations."
Edouard is a graduate of Boston University School of Law (LL.M. in American Law, concentration in international business practice) and of Paris Nanterre University (Master's Degree in French and Common Law).
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the M&A, Corporate Law and Private Equity/Venture Capital practices
Counsel Elizabeth Gautier joined Gide's Competition & International Trade practice group in 2009. She specialises in French and European competition law (cartels, abuse of dominant position and merger control) and represents French and foreign companies, in both a litigation and advisory capacity before the Competition Authority, the European Commission and appeal courts. She also regularly acts as counsel on major multi-filings and has developed an expertise in merger control in Africa.
Elizabeth acts also as counsel before French Courts in compensation actions brought by companies impacted by anticompetitive practices following convictions or commitment provisions handed down by competition authorities.
She is highly experienced in providing advice and assisting in litigation, on economic law issues as part of commercial relations between economic operators (structuring of distribution networks, writing and negotiation of commercial contracts, restrictive practices, unfair practices, etc.), as well as with their consumer customers (unfair terms, misleading trading practices).
Elizabeth has developed a specific knowledge of the agribusiness, consumer goods, banking and entertainment (online games and gambling, sport, e-sports) industries.
She is a member of the "Association des Avocats Pratiquant le Droit de la Concurrence" (APDC) - (French Association of Lawyers Practising Competition Law)
Emmanuel Reille works in the Competition & International Trade business line. He specializes in French and European competition law, distribution law and commercial litigation. He regularly advises on antitrust issues and abuses of dominant position, in the context of disputes before the French Competition Authority and the courts, as well as for the notification of mergers to the competition authorities. He also regularly advises on commercial litigation (termination of commercial relationships, unfair competition) and he regularly intervenes in competition proceedings before competition authorities in Africa. Emmanuel has extensive experience in the agro-industrial and food-processing, real estate, banking, insurance and oil sectors as well as in the consumer goods sector.
Emmanuel Larere is a member of the Intellectual Property, Telecommunications, Media & Technology department. He joined the Firm in 1993 and has contributed towards the development of intellectual property law within the Firm, especially patent law litigation. He became partner in 2003.
Emmanuel Larere's practice relates mainly to non-contentious and contentious patent and trademark matters. He is an acknowledged specialist in trademark law and has defended and advised some of the world's leading brands in the luxury goods, cosmetics and sports apparel sectors. In patent law, he has participated in the Firm's most significant cases, particularly those requiring co-ordination of several national legal teams. He has been involved in several cases regarding declarations of non-infringement of patents.
Emmanuel Vital-Durand is a member of Gide's Public Law and Environment, Real Estate Transactions & Financing, and Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice groups. He specialises in regulatory and operational urban planning, the development of the public domain, and institutional issues. He advises public and private authorities on developing and carrying out their real estate and planning projects: feasibility analysis, instructing and obtaining authorisations from the relevant authorities, land acquisition terms and conditions, urban planning participations. In these fields, Emmanuel also draws on significant expertise in dispute resolution on behalf of public and private bodies throughout France.
Hall of fame
Eric Cartier-Millon is a partner in the Banking & Finance practice group of Gide Loyrette Nouel. He specialises in structured finance and project finance.
He has experience in the following sectors:
- Structured finance: representing senior lenders and/or mezzanine lenders in LBO finance transactions; he also has wide experience in structured finance, whether or not associated with securitisation transactions;
- Project finance: advising a number of lenders or sponsors in a variety of finance transactions in France, including a paper factory in Golbey, a Daimler-Benz factory in Sarreguemines, the Stade de France and the A 28 motorway;
- Debt rescheduling agreements: advising creditors or the borrower in a number of debt restructuring transactions on behalf of major French listed and non-listed companies;
- Arbitration: representing clients in arbitration proceedings before the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris.
Hall of fame
Eric Martin-Impératori has been a member of Gide's Real Estate Transactions & Financing practice group since 1990. He specialises in real estate investment transactions and development, town planning law, construction law, and acquisitions and project financing. Well versed in all aspects of real estate deals, Eric Martin-Impératori has a wide and solid experience in large-scale projects. Thus, Eric assists clients with the construction, development and commercialisation of shopping centres, and investors from the design through to the commercialisation of office buildings. He regularly advises a sovereign fund from the Middle East, Générale Continentale Investissements and its partners, SMA, Société de la Tour Eiffel, Altaréa Cogedim and Goldman Sachs.
Esra Dündar Loiseau specialises in intellectual property law (IP-trademarks, patents, designs, copyrights and all IP-related disputes, proceedings before the Turkish Trademark Institute), IT (IT-Internet and e-commerce), licensing and distribution.
Esra assists with IP/IT issues that may arise in the day-to-day business of companies in the field of information technology law, including Internet law and software and data protection. She pleads before commercial, civil and criminal courts specialising in Intellectual Property law, and regularly acts in seizures of counterfeit goods throughout Turkey, on behalf of major multinational companies in various sectors such as luxury goods, perfumes and cosmetics, textiles, car parts, toys, jewellery, high technology, etc
She has recently advised a financial institution on data protection issues and Turkish data protection legislation; an international company on trademark infringement and anti-counterfeiting. She has also provided expertise on intellectual property issues to internationally renowned companies in the luxury, perfume and cosmetics, textile and automotive sectors such as L'Oreal, Chanel, LVMH, Christian Dior, Fendi, Bvlgari, Audemars Piguet, Hublot, Tag Heuer, Moncler, Christian Louboutin, Clarins, Moet Hernessy, BPI, Levi's, Renault, Volvo, Ethypharm, MSA Technology, Mattel, Alltech, Accor Hotels, Lactalis, etc.
She has headed the IP/IT Department since 2005.
Jiannian is managing partner of Gide's Shanghai office and specialises in cross-border M&A. He advises multinational, public and private-sector clients on their activities in Greater China across a broad range of sectors, including the automotive, equipment manufacturing, industrial gas, biomedicine and fashion retail industries.
Jiannian's track record notably includes advising the SEB Group on an acquisition of a majority stake in Zhejiang Supor Co., Ltd., followed by a further acquisition of a 20% stake (valued at approximately EUR 750 million in total) and advising Veolia Environnement on the filing of the Panda Bonds issuance plan in the Chinese domestic bond market and all subsequent issuances, with a total amount of EUR 2 billion.
In recent years, he has advised a number of Chinese enterprises on overseas investment projects, including assisting Kweichow Moutai, a leading Chinese liquor enterprise, in the acquisition of Chateau Loudenne ("AOC Médoc" winery in Bordeaux) and real estate in Paris, France, assisting ICICLE group in acquiring French luxury brand Carven and restructuring multinational group ICCF, and assisting Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd. in acquiring Kidiliz Group, the European leader in premium kidswear fashion.
He also served as the deputy director of the specially invited member committee of Shanghai Bar Association in 2018, in charge of the coordination of all foreign law firms registered with Shanghai Bar Association. He contributed, as Executive Deputy Editor-in-Chief, to the drafting and publication of a legal guide entitled “A Practical Guide to In-House Counsels” published in 2019 by Law Press.
Franck Audran is a Partner within Gide's Competition & International Trade practice group. He joined the firm in 2007, and began his career in Gide's Bucharest office before integrating the Paris office European and Economic Law team. Franck was also seconded to the firm's Budapest office, which he co-headed over the 2014-2015 period.
He specialises in French and European law on competition (cartels, dominant position, merger control), and works with our clients on litigation proceedings, both before supervisory bodies (cartel and abuse of dominant position) and commercial courts (compensatory remedies, restrictive competition practices, etc.).
Franck has also acted on complex merger operations, some of which required commitments and/or the initiation of an in-depth investigation phase before the French Competition Authority, the European Commission, the national competition authorities of both EU member states (Romania, Greece, Poland, etc.) and non-EU countries (China, Korea, Brazil, Serbia, Bosnia, Turkey, etc.).
Franck has also acquired significant experience in providing assistance to our clients in the solving of issues pertaining to the management of their distribution and franchise networks, both in France and in an international context.
Franck has gained particular expertise in the digital economy sector, working with major digital industry players in their development phase, and institutional clients in the adaptation of their activities to new online consumption methods (luxury goods industry, hotel industry, etc.).
Lastly, when working in our Bucharest and Budapest offices, Franck advised clients on conducting their investments through the implementation of cooperation contracts, joint ventures or acquisition operations. Franck is a member of the Desk in charge of our firm's activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
Gide 255 director Franck Guiader is an expert in advanced technologies, digital finance and the regulation of innovations (marketplaces, blockchain, security tokens, ICOs, stablecoins, roboadvisors, crowdfunding, AI). In this capacity, he advises both public and private institutions and companies on their development projects requiring the integration of technology-related specifics in their legal structuring.
Franck is also a key player in the development of the Paris financial market, for which he has established several working groups on financial regulation and developing attractiveness. Franck has in particular steered the work of the "FROG" group for the development of asset management, and "UNICORN" for the development of digital assets in France.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2014, François Voiron specialises in criminal and commercial litigation. François is instructed on a number of business criminal law matters, throughout all stages of the procedure (preliminary investigation, instruction, judgment).
He also assists the firm's clients in pre-action claims and during litigation, in a wide variety of civil and commercial disputes, involving financial law, corporate law and private international law.
François handles complex cases with multiple procedures, whether criminal and/or commercial, which require an overall strategic approach.
He assists and advises major French and foreign companies and their directors.
François joined Gide in 2014 and was promoted as Counsel in 2022.
M&A / Corporate
Hall of fame
Frédéric Nouel specializes mainly in M&A, real estate and financing transactions for both listed and non-listed operators on the European hotel and real estate markets and on investment funds.
Frédéric advises on headline deals for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Accorhotels, ADEO (Leroy-Merlin), Icamap/Icawood, Swiss-Life, Domus-Vi, BNP-Paribas, KKR, EDF, Eurazeo, Aermont, SFL, Engie, Goldman Sachs and PSA Peugeot-Citroën.
He played a crucial role in the creation in France of non-listed REITs named OPCIs, which now represent around 90 billion euros of assets. He has developed significant expertise in investment fund creation and development of professional alternative investment funds (FIA) in all sectors of the real estate and hotel industries.
A Gide partner since 1994, Frédéric Nouel is the firm's Senior Partner and chairs the firm's Executive Committee since January 2021.
Frédéric holds a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Business Law (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1985) and an honours degree (Maîtrise) in Management (University of Paris-Dauphine, 1983).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2012, Frédéric Pia is a Counsel within Gide's Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice group. He works with governments, international financial establishments and sponsors on infrastructure (motorways, ports and airports) and renewable energy projects (solar and wind), mainly in Africa.
Frédéric holds a Master's degree in International Business Law and Management from business school ESSEC, and is a graduate of Paris West University Nanterre La Défense and of higher education institution Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (Master's degree in project financing and structured financing).
A graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, and a former student of the Ecole normale supérieure and the ENA (French National School of Administration), Frédéric Mion began his career by joining the Conseil d'Etat in 1996 as an auditor and then as maître des requêtes.
In 2000, he joined the Ministry of Education as an advisor to the Minister's office, and in 2001 he joined the Ministry of the Civil Service as deputy to the Director General of Administration and the Civil Service.
He became a lawyer in 2003 with Allen & Overy LLP.
In 2007, he joined the Canal+ group as Secretary General, a position he held until 2013. Later that year, he was elected Director of Sciences Po and held this position for eight years, before returning to the Conseil d'Etat in 2021.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2011, and Barrister (England & Wales) since 2018, Counsel Gabriel Hannotin specialises in commercial litigation and white collar crime. He regularly assists the firm's clients at pre-litigation stage (negotiations, mediations and conciliations) and throughout procedures before criminal, civil and commercial courts.
Having spent nearly 3 years at Gide's London office, Gabriel acts in particular in international disputes for major French and foreign groups, and regularly works with lawyers established abroad. Since joining the firm, Gabriel has handled a wide variety of cases, be they of a commercial nature (shareholder disputes, banking and finance disputes, contractual liability, professional liability, construction, etc.) or of a criminal nature (French anticorruption proceedings, internal investigations, white collar litigation in the field of libel / defamation, works accidents, misappropriation of corporate assets, fraud, etc.) . He is regularly instructed on issues relating to the execution of French and foreign court decisions, as well as of arbitral awards.
Gabriel has graduated from ESSEC Business School (MBA), Cambridge University (BA, MA (Cantab)) and Université Paris II - Panthéon Assas (M2 Droit des affaires).
Admitted to the Paris Bar, Ghislaine Lemoyne is an associate within Gide's Competition & International Trade practice group in Paris.
She specialises in French and European competition law, in both non-contentious and contentious issues before competition authorities (cartels, abuse of dominance) and commercial courts (contractual relations etc.).
She graduated from King's College University in 2018 (LL.M. in competition law) and from Paris II Pantheon Assas University in 2017 (Master in European business law).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2004, Guillaume Navarro specializes in employment and labor law. In particular, he focuses on labor law litigation (civil, criminal and administrative), covering all aspects of individual and collective work relations.
In this respect, he advises and assists companies and groups of companies in the handling of sensitive litigation cases (e.g. litigation relating to the managing director's criminal liability) and cases with high strategic (e.g. litigation linked to company restructuring operations) and economic stakes (mass litigation) at all stages of the dispute (risk assessment, management of crisis situations, amicable procedure or settlement).
Legal 500 EMEA 2021 defines him as "an excellent lawyer and perfectly represents the firm".
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2009, partner Guillaume Goffin specialises in financial services law and regulation, with a particular focus on investment funds (UCITS and all types of alternative investment funds including real estate funds, infrastructure funds, private equity funds and debt funds). Guillaume acts for investment managers, banks and fund promoters, insurance companies and other institutional investors in connection with the structuring, setting up and distribution of investment funds and investment mandates. His areas of expertise cover transactional and regulatory matters, including local business licensing. Guillaume also represents financial institutions in investigations and enforcement actions by regulatory bodies.
A member of the PRC Bar and Institute of Certified Public Taxation Consultants of China, Guo Min is managing partner of Gide's Beijing office and the head of Gide's China Tax Practice. She joined Gide's Beijing office in 2005 after working in the Tax Department of one of the Big Four accounting firms as a tax consultant.
Having advised many companies on their foreign investments in China, she has extensive experience in M&A and JV projects in China, including in relation to corporate advice, restructuring and tax optimisation. She also has specialist experience in customs law, foreign exchange control and corporate legal matters. She has worked on a wide range of notable M&A, JV project and cross-border restructuring matters for global clients.
Hannah McIrvine specialises in international disputes. She qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2009 and joined Gide Loyrette Nouel's London office in 2012, becoming Counsel in the International Dispute Resolution team in 2017. She advises international clients in English court litigations, international arbitrations (under a variety of institutional rules, including ICC, LCIA, VIAC (Vietnam) and ad hoc) and alternative dispute resolution forums.
Hannah advises clients from the commercial, manufacturing, banking, technology and communication, energy and construction sectors on a wide range of disputes and in particular has experience of disputes arising out of jurisdiction and contractual issues and fraudulent, tortious and equitable claims.
Hannah also advises insurance sector clients on litigation and regulatory matters.
Hall of fame
Hubert du Vignaux is a partner within Gide's Banking & Finance practice group, specialising in capital markets and structured finance.
Hubert acts on a wide range of capital markets transactions and on all types of debt securities (Bonds, MTNs, Commercial Paper), with particular emphasis on structured or innovative products and operations (EuroPP, high-yield, subordinated bonds, covered bonds, mortgage bonds, restructuring, buy-backs) as well as on equity (IPOs, share capital increases, etc.) and equity-linked securities. He is frequently consulted by Market Authorities and teaches at the University of Paris I and Sciences Po Paris.
Hugues Scalbert is a partner within Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group. He specialises in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, and has developed particular expertise in M&A transactions in the insurance, distribution, higher education and defence sectors, as well in as operations in the Gulf region (particularly Saudi Arabia).
Partner Hugues Moreau advises French and international operators on all legal issues involved in the real estate value creation chain: mergers & acquisitions, investment & divestments, property development, restructuring, asset management and financing transactions. His expertise encompasses the creation of joint ventures as well as of regulated (OPCIs) and unregulated investment vehicles.
He splits his time between our Paris and London offices and is instructed on all classes of real estate assets (office buildings, retail premises and shopping centres, hotels, logistic platforms, student housing, residential care homes, leisure facilities, etc.) for a variety of institutional players (investors, developers, fund and asset managers, regulated RE management companies, etc.).
Since 2000, Hugues has been involved in number of acquisition, divestment and restructuring projects, for single assets and entire portfolios, real estate receivables and property holding companies. He has also been instructed on several major private-equity transactions in the industry (eg. involving developers and AMF regulated ManCos).
He is recognized as an expert in sale-and-leaseback transactions, as well as in real estate development and leasing operations.
He also regularly supports the French and international expansion of major retailers, particularly in the luxury and fashion industries.
Hugues is active in dispute resolution cases and represents his clients before civil and commercial courts.
Listed in both the M&A and Real Estate sections of Legal 500 EMEA with quotes such as: "Skillfull negotiator" and "always available", Hugues Moreau is described as having a "sharp understanding of the retail market" and being "very quick to understand issues". "Excellent and very business-oriented" Hugues Moreau "is highly appreciated for his ability to advise clients on major strategic issues" and "provides fast, very efficient and enjoyable services".
Associate Iklim Gülsün Kelekçi specialises in the fields of competition law, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, foreign investments and commercial transactions in sectors such as banking, industry and construction. She has extensive experience in conducting due diligence exercises, reviewing and drafting contracts, and providing legal assistance to companies on their daily operations. She is also a member of the Competition team and regularly advises multinational companies in the context of their investments in Turkey. Admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association in 2012, she graduated from the Law School of Marmara University (Istanbul) in 2009. She obtained a Master 2 Degree in European Union Law & European Policies from Paul Cézanne University (Aix-en-Provence, France) in 2010 and an LLM Degree in European Law from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) in 2011.
Jean-Baptiste de Martigny is a Partner in Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions department. Member of the Paris Bar, he specialises in mergers and acquisitions and securities law. He frequently advises listed and unlisted companies, family groups and private equity and infrastructure funds.
Admitted to the Paris Bar, Jean-François Louit specialises in M&A transactions, private equity and capital markets. In these fields he has over twenty years of experience, working in leading UK and French law firms. In particular, he supports directors, entrepreneurs and managers in these areas, particularly with regard to issues of access to capital, management incentives and governance.
He has recently been involved in major corporate transactions, such as the spin-off of Accor Invest, the CVC bid for April and the acquisition of IPH by Advent. He is involved in the implementation of employee share ownership plans.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2003, partner Jean-François Levraud is a partner within Gide's Real Estate Transactions & Financing practice group in Paris. He mainly advises his clients on real estate transactions and in particular on construction, development and real estate development. He has also developed a comprehensive practice in sales and acquisitions.
Jean-François joined Gide's office in Morocco in September 2013 to strengthen the real estate business and practice there. He managed the Casablanca office until the summer of 2018, before returning to practice in Paris. Over recent years, Jean-François has advised in France groups such as AccorInvest, Seafrigo Investment, DWS GmbH, BNP Paribas, Blackrock Investment, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Pernod Ricard and Unibail-Rodamco. He has also been involved on the acquisition of a Portuguese retail complex for BNP Paribas REIM, and on the purchase of four strategic hotels in Europe for AccorInvest.
Jean-Gabriel Flandrois is a partner in Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions /Corporate practice group. He has gained extensive experience in the coordination of cross-border transactions in Europe and the MENA region and in the acquisition and restructuring of banks and other financial institutions. In France, Jean-Gabriel is regularly advising on private equity transactions and is also involved in transactions in the FinTech sector.
Jean-Gabriel recently advised Société Générale on the sale of its subsidiary in Georgia, BNP Paribas Cardif on various transactions including the acquisition of Icare, a subsidiary of Europ Assistance, VimpelCom on the EUR 1 billion sale of its 51% holding in Orascom Telecom Algérie (Djezzy) to the Fonds National d'Investissement FNI, the Algerian National Investment Fund. He also advised German media group ProSiebenSat.1 on its acquisition of a stake in Deezer, various banks and other investors in a new "blockchain" initiative and private equity group Investindustrial on various transactions including the buy-out of Selective Beauty as part of a global financial restructuring of a private equity transaction and DFDS in connection with the sale of Eurotunnel shipping activities (SeaFrance).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2005 and Gide partner since 2017, Jean-Hyacinthe de Mitry specialises in French and EU industrial property law. His expertise includes both contentious and non-contentious matters in all areas of industrial property (patents, trademarks, designs) and protection of know-how and trade secrets, and also in unfair competition matters and copyright,s notably relating to architectural works.
In contentious matters, he regularly advises and represents French and international clients, mainly in infringement disputes and in disputes relating to agreements having a strong IP and/or technology content. He has wide experience in national and multijurisdictional patent disputes, notably in the life sciences and telecom sectors. In trademark matters, he speaks before all French and EU courts. He can advocate equally in French and English.
In non-contentious matters, he regularly advises French and non-French clients in drafting and negotiating IP-related or technology transfer agreements (licenses, assignments, R&D agreements, etc.), whether as standalone agreements or as part of high-stake corporate deals or projects (IPOs, joint ventures, acquisitions, infrastructure projects, etc.).
Hall of fame
Jean-Nicolas Clément provides advice as well as assistance in litigation matters pertaining to industrial environmental law (installations classified for the protection of the environment, water, waste), nuclear law and energy law (regulation of the electricity sector, renewable energies: wind, solar, hydro, etc.), mining law and mining activities. Prior to joining Gide, Jean-Nicolas was a partner at law firm UGGC since 2002 as head of their Environment-Energy department. He had also practised with law firm Lafarge-Flécheux for over 12 years as an associate and partner, and began his career as a legal consultant within EDF's equipment department.
Admitted to the Paris bar in 2004, partner Jean-Philippe Pons-Henry specialises in pre-action claims and litigation cases, more specifically in financial markets, corporate and business criminal law. Jean-Philippe acts in particular in finance-dominated disputes before civil, commercial and criminal courts.
He also assists clients in the implementation of internal investigations or in the context of enquiries, inspection or disciplinary proceedings initiated by financial regulators. His main fields of expertise are:
In civil and commercial law:
- Post-acquisition litigation and shareholder disputes
- Liability of banking and financial institutions
- Liability of auditors and accountants
In law enforcement:
- Market abuse (insider trading, price manipulation, dissemination of false information)
- Property crime (fraud, breach of trust, misappropriation of company funds, money laundering)
- Liability of issuers
- Disciplinary liability of investment service providers
Advocate, Associate, Member of the Employment practice
Hall of fame
John Crothers specializes in project finance, PPPs, banking transactions and privatizations, both in the developing and developed world.
John has over 35 years' experience in large-scale projects, legal transition work, legislative drafting and assistance to governments, IFIs, lenders, sponsors and equity investors, from initial feasibility analysis to international bidding processes and financial closings, where he ensures a clear and early identification of legal issues with a view to proposing the most suitable contractual schemes.
A dual U.S. and France-qualified lawyer, John is fluent in both English and French and has extensive experience working in both civil and common law jurisdictions.
He has advised international financial institutions, concession companies, operators and bidding consortia in infrastructure projects around the world including the following sectors: motorways, airports, ports, solar power, energy, water treatment and desalination facilities and telecommunications. He frequently advises national governments, local governments and other authorities granting concessions or setting up Public-Private Partnerships. He has also drafted international ?best practice? concession and PPP laws in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Before joining Gide, John Crothers was a counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the EBRD in London. As such, he was involved in over forty projects in fifteen different Eastern European countries and in the CIS.
John Crothers is consistently ranked as a Leading Individual in Project Finance and Energy by international legal guides Chambers Global, Legal 500 and IFLR1000. He has been inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame, which highlights individuals who have received constant praise by their clients for continued excellence.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2011, Julie Brulé specialises in insurance law and civil liability.
She has extensive experience in all fields pertaining to insurance law and acts more particularly in life insurance disputes and the professional indemnity of insurance and finance intermediaries.
She regularly assists insurance companies in the context of audit and disciplinary proceedings before the French Regulatory Authority (ACPR).
Julie holds a Master's degree in Advanced Corporate Law from Paris-Dauphine University, and a further Master's degree in Insurance Law from Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne University.
A graduate of the University of Paris-Dauphine in corporate taxation and wealth management, Julien Nouchi specializes in corporate tax support. He joined Gide's Casablanca office in June 2017.
Julien is regularly involved in both domestic and cross-border transactions with tax implications, such as acquisitions, mergers and various restructuring projects.
Julien has significant experience in tax matters applicable to free trade zones, as well as customs matters relating to such zones. He has assisted many investors in their establishment in Morocco, enabling them to structure their investments in the best possible way from a tax point of view.
Julien Gontier is a Counsel with Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.PI., member of the Paris Bar, specialized in litigation/arbitration, public procurements and infrastructures projects. He worked for our Litigation Department in Paris and joined our Algiers office in June 2008 where he advices major foreign companies wishing to invest in Algeria.
In the framework of his experience in Algeria, he regularly assists companies on the occasion of the achievement of their infrastructures projects for the conclusion of EPC, O&M or supply contracts (negotiation, drafting of contractual documentation), the performance of these contracts (interpretation of contractual clauses, claims) and for the related litigations (arbitration and local courts).
He also assists foreign and Algerian companies for the conclusion and performance of public procurements and mainly, of works public procurements, regarding the preparation and submission of bids (analyze of call for tenders documentation, questions relating to the applicable regulations etc.) and the performance of the public procurement contracts (interpretation of contractual clauses, claims, litigations).
He participates more and more in arbitrations or expert procedures under the aegis of the International Chamber of Commerce in the context of disputes relating to infrastructure contracts involving entities Algerian public authorities and international companies.
Karine Imbrosciano heads the Derivatives & Structured Products group of Gide in London. Qualified as both a French Avocat à la Cour and English solicitor, she has in-depth knowledge of French and English law legal structuring and advisory support on a broad range of derivatives, structured repos, securities lending transactions and structured products across various asset classes (Fixed Income, Equity, Credit, Funds). Specialised in complex OTC derivatives products and structured products, Karine is experienced notably in equity derivatives and in hedging of structured finance transactions (real estate financing, project finance, covered bonds, securitisation), with a focus on the negotiation of swaps complying with rating agency criteria. Karine also has significant experience in credit derivatives (CDO, CPPI, CPDO, CFXO). Leveraging her dual qualification and broad experience of the European and UK markets, Karine has assisted many clients with the preparation and implementation of their Brexit plans for their derivatives and structured products businesses and is still working alongside those clients in a post-Brexit context.
Karine regularly advises her clients on the implementation of the new banking and financial regulatory reforms, and in particular with respect to collateralisation, clearing and reporting, as well as IBOR transition. Moreover, Karine has developed an expertise in restructuring and prelitigation/litigation procedures involving derivatives and temporary acquisitions and sales of securities, notably in the context of the Lehman Brothers insolvency.
Having graduated from HEC Business School, Karine joined Gide in Paris in 2005 and the London office two years later. Sharing her time between London and Paris, she works closely with Gide's finance teams in both offices, as well as Gide's international offices in Eastern Europe and Africa. She has benefited from a secondment to the Corporate Solutions Group of a French bank in Paris and from a one-year secondment to a leading US investment bank in London in its structured products and derivatives teams.
Recommended by Legal 500 since 2015, Karine is ranked for Derivatives and Structured Products by the Legal 500 UK.
Partner of Gide Loyrette Nouel, in London, since 2013
Advocate, Partner, Head of the Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, and Infrastructure (Projects) practices
Laetitia Lemercier was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2001 and specialises in structured finance. She is a member of Gide's Banking & Finance practice group and has significant experience in real estate finance, project finance, acquisition and corporate finance, as well as in debt restructuring.
She regularly advises financial institutions or borrowers and investors at all stages of the structuring or restructuring, drafting and negotiation of complex financing transactions.
Laetitia Lemercier co-authored the model Euro PP credit agreement and is an external speaker at Science Po Paris. She holds a postgraduate degree in business law and taxation and a master's degree in business law from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, as well as a master's degree in management sciences in finance from the University of Paris IX Dauphine.
Laetitia Lemercier is recommended in banking and finance law by the international legal guide Legal 500 EMEA.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2006, Laura Castex specialises in European and French competition law as well as distribution law (distribution networks, commercial agreements, etc.) and consumer law, both in an advisory capacity and as a litigator.
As regards merger control, Laura advises major French and foreign firms for their investments and divestments, including in non-EU jurisdictions.
As regards anticompetitive practices, Laura has extensive experience in investigation proceedings and the design of bespoke compliance programs (private enforcement). She also assists our clients in private enforcement litigation.
Lastly, as regards distribution and consumer law, Laura regularly advises our clients in the formalisation of their commercial relations and in litigation arising from them, as well as in the context of investigations carried out by the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of Fraud (DGCCRF) and its local branches.
Laurent Godfroid is a partner in Gide’s Brussels office, admitted to the Brussels and Paris Bars. He has extensive experience dealing with EU and French Competition Law, be it mergers, vertical and horizontal cartels, abuses of dominant position or state aids, which he has been practising for more than 15 years.
He is also specialised in analysing EU legislation, and questions of interpretation the latter may raise, in the context of legislative proposals or concerning existing texts. On this basis, he assists clients before the European Commission and the French Competition Authority or the Community courts in Luxembourg and also European agencies such as EMA and ECHA.
Laurent specialises in several markets: rail and road transports, space industry, agricultural law, agro-chemicals, pharmaceuticals, Internet, and pay and free TV.
Laurent Modave is a member of Gide's Tax practice group. He specialises in French and international tax law. His practice mainly concentrates on property-based transactions, mergers and acquisitions and group reorganisations.
He has developed significant expertise in asset management issues and investment funds, including structuring real estate and private equity funds. Since 2004, he has conducted the discussions with the French tax authorities on the design and the implementation of the OPCI, the newly-created French non-listed REIT. He is also very active on transactions involving listed REITs (SIIC).
Recently, Laurent Modave advised Solvay on the tax aspects of its proposed Euro 3.4 billion acquisition of Rhodia. He also advised UFG Rem on the purchase of a portfolio of hotels from the Accor group for a sale and leaseback transaction, Casino Group on an outsourcing of real estate assets, as well as Natixis on the split-up of a real estate investment fund and BNP Paribas bank on the restructuring of two of its funds.
Laurent Modave is a frequent speaker on tax law and investment fund issues.
He is a member of the Institut des Avocats Conseils fiscaux. He regularly authors publications on tax issues.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2008, Laurent Vincent specialises in capital markets and structured finance and has recognised expertise in structured products. He regularly advises financial institutions and French and foreign corporates on their issuance, investment, debt-rating and liability management transactions.
Laurent also has a strong expertise in derivatives, structured products and related regulatory and post-market issues. He notably assists financial institutions and commercial companies with the structuration and documentation of their derivative transactions, repos/stock-lending transactions and on the regulatory and documentation issues associated with clearing. More generally, Laurent advises on a wide range of securities issues and on various aspects of stock markets and financial regulations.
Laurent Vincent is recommended in Capital Markets and Derivatives by international legal guides Legal 500, Chambers Global / Europe, Best Lawyers in France and IFLR1000.
Prior to joining Gide's Capital Markets team, Laurent worked for seven years within the International Capital Markets team of a Magic Circle law firm. He holds an LL.M. in Commercial and Financial Law (2008) from King's College London, a Master's Degree in Banking and Financial Law (2006) and a Master's Degree in Business Law (2004) from the University Paris II - Panthéon-Assas. Laurent also holds teaching positions in various master degrees of Sciences Po Paris, Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Paris II - Panthéon-Assas University.
Counsel Loris Marghieri was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2010 and specialises in real estate law. Loris heads the real estate practice of Gide Casablanca office where he moved in 2015 after five years spent in Paris as a member of the Real Estate Transactions & Financing practice group.
Loris advises a broad panel of Moroccan and international professionals on all aspects of real estate transactions and on all types of real estate assets (industrial, office, retail and shopping mall, hotels, logistics, residential, data centres, etc.) in Morocco and more broadly in sub-Saharan Africa.
He is mainly involved in acquisitions and disposals of real estate asset (externalisations, share deals, asset deals), real estate financing, construction operations and large scale development projects as well as in the drafting and negotiation of lease agreements for tenants and owners alike.
Loris has developed a strong expertise in Built-to-Suit transactions and regularly assists owners and operators in the context of tourism and hospitality projects with the preparation and negotiation of hotel management contracts or hotel leases. In recent years, Loris has also been involved in the structuring and creation of Moroccan OPCI.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2008, Louis Oudot de Dainville specialises in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions, and particularly in matters related to venture capital and private equity, notably in the new technologies sector.
He assists both investors (Allianz, Demeter, Samaipata, Raise, BlackFin, Eurazeo, LocalGlobe, Heartcore, Sinovation, Headline, 360 Capital, etc.), and growth companies (Blablacar, Meero, Sensory Odyssey, Leeway, Cala, etc.), in fundraising, restructuring, external growth operations and exits. With several years of experience in Gide's Beijing and Shanghai offices, Louis has also acquired solid experience in foreign direct investment in France and China.
Tax advisor, Associate, Member of the Tax practice
Partner Magali Buchert specialises in tax law. She draws on recognised expertise in transaction tax (private and public mergers and acquisitions, complex restructurings, private equity operations). She also advises companies during tax audits and disputes, as well as on incentive schemes for their managers. Magali has also acquired specific expertise as regards the taxation of non-profit organisations.
Advocate, Associate, Member of the Employment practice
Counsel in the Projects (Finance and Infrastructure) department, Magueye Gueye joined Gide in 2012 as associate. He specialises in project finance and PPPs in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors. He regularly advises on projects in Africa on behalf of governments, sponsors and lenders.
Magueye joined the Projects team of Gide in 2016, after having spent four years within the Tax department of Gide where he has developed an expertise in French and international tax law, particularly in business restructuration (mergers and acquisitions), transfer pricing, VAT, tax audit and financial tax.
As such, Magueye is able to advise foreign companies willing to invest in Africa under PPP schemes on all aspects of their investments, including tax law and foreign exchange control.
Magueye holds Master's degrees in corporate taxation (2010) and accountancy and auditing (2009) from Paris Dauphine University, as well as an advanced diploma in accounting and management (2009).
Marcin Muszel. attorney-at-law, partner heading the real estate practice at Gide Warsaw.
For more than 20 years he has been advising leading real estate companies ? developers, corporate clients, banks and shopping centre operators, as well as investment pension and private equity funds.
His experience includes advising clients on real estate transactions, including the purchase and sale of commercial real estate, the acquisition of shares in real estate companies and the acquisition of real estate portfolios in a variety of transactional formulas, including joint-venture, forward purchase as well as sale and leaseback transactions.
He also advises clients on lease agreements for commercial space and supports them in development projects, including planning, zoning and administrative procedures, as well as concerning legal due diligence reviews of real estate, including investment risk assessments.
Marcin graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the Warsaw University.
He speaks Polish and English.
Hall of fame
Marcus Billam is a Partner at Gide M&A Department. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions and securities law and essentially advises listed and unlisted companies and family groups in their strategic and cross-border projects. He has worked with industrialists and investment funds on many market transactions. Marcus Billam also advises listed companies regarding corporate governance issues.
Before joining Gide, Marcus Billam was a partner at Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier from 2015, after being a partner at Allen & Overy (2010 – 2015). Prior to that, he was a partner at Clifford Chance (2000 to 2010) and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier (1998 to 2000). He is a graduate of Paris II – Assas (1982-1986).
Marie Bouvet-Guiramand, joined Gide Loyrette Nouel in 2002 and is partner since Jan. 1, 2017. Specialized in project finance, she represents all players of the infrastructures, public facilities sector and energy, be they sponsors (investors and industrial groups), lenders or public administrations. She deals with all issues (project and finance) relating to project structuring or tender preparation, negotiating project and finance agreements and their implementation during construction and operation. Marie also advises on sales and acquisition project companies, industrial groups or projects portfolios and assets refinancing.
In France and abroad (Africa, and also South America, Eastern Europe and Asia), Marie advises on PPP/concessions and adhoc projects as well as innovative financing structures in many sectors: transport infrastructures (urban transport, roads, railway lines, tramways, airports, ports), energy (renewables, offgrid and storage, hydropower, oil & gas, mining), water and waste (production, irrigation, desalination, treatment, distribution) and public facilities (stadia, entertainment venues, prisons, administrative and industrial facilities, public lighting, urban heating, telecommunications networks, hospitals, universities, schools, military equipment/facilities).
Marie Bouvet-Guiramand holds a Magistère in business law, a DJCE from the University of Paris II ? Panthéon Assas and is a graduate of Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC).
Marie Bouvet-Guiramand is recommended in Project Finance and Energy by international legal guides Legal 500 and IFLR1000. She is well recognized for her work on the African continent and is regularly listed in the rankings of Jeune Afrique and Décideurs - Africa Desk.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2015, Marie Robert is an associate within Gide's Dispute Resolution practice group.
Marie assists the firm's clients in banking and financial litigation, in particular disciplinary proceedings, as well as in contractual and corporate law disputes.
She advises and represents clients in the framework of:
- regulatory inspections and enforcement proceedings, before banking and financial regulators (AMF and ACPR) in matters of market abuse and compliance by regulated institutions with their professional obligations (investigations, controls and sanction procedures);
- civil litigation in particular shareholder and stock market litigation;
- criminal, in particular on issues likely to concern financial institutions (market abuse, suspicious transaction reports, etc.).
She also advises financial institutions in complex cases involving several jurisdictions or regulators, including in an international context.
Marie holds a Master II degree in Economic Litigation and Arbitration from the Law School of Sciences Po Paris and a Master II degree in International Trade Law from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Marie speaks both French and English.
Admitted to the New York and Paris Bars, Marie-Ange Pozzo di Borgo is an associate of Gide's Intellectual Property practice group since 2013 and appointed counsel in 2022. She advises French and international clients on industrial property matters (patents, trademarks and designs), as well as copyrights and unfair competition.
She has a strong focus on patent disputes. Her recent experience includes advising clients in the pharmaceutical and aeronautic industries on multi-jurisdictional cases, involving patent or SPC invalidity and/or infringement claims, preliminary injunction and saisie-contrefaçon preparation, product clearances, and regulatory issues.
Attorney-at-law, Tax advisor, member of the Banking & Finance and Private Equity / Venture Capital practices
Advocate, Associate, Member of the Banking and Finance Practice
Matteo Matteucci is Counsel in the Energy group of Gide Loyrette Nouel's London office.
His practice is focused on cross-border M&A transactions (acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures), project developments and commercial transactions in the energy and natural resources sectors. He has advised financial investors, corporate clients and governments on domestic and cross-border transactions across Europe, Africa and Asia.
In 2014 Matteo was seconded for seven months to the London office of Statkraft, where he advised on the development of various UK wind farm projects and on various commercial matters.
Before qualifying as a solicitor in 2009, Matteo worked for three years in an Italian oil and gas services company.
Mehmet Kosoglu is an associate of Gide and of its correspondent firm in Turkey, Ozdirekcan Dundar Senocak Ak. Admitted to Istanbul Bar in 2009, Mehmet Kosoglu concentrates on banking finance and project finance transactions where he has been involved in structuring, drafting and perfecting financing and security agreements, drafting/amending of relevant corporate documents and issuance of legal opinions. As a member of the bank finance team, he advises clients on a wide variety of banking and corporate law issues relating to financing structures. Mehmet graduated from the Law School of Istanbul University and holds a Master's Degree in Private Law from Istanbul University.
Melinda Arsouze is a U.S. qualified partner specializing in international capital markets.
A fluent French speaker based primarily in Paris, Melinda works in close coordination with Gide's capital markets teams throughout the international network and has extensive experience in EMEA practice, including in Turkey, North Africa and Asia.
With over ten years of experience in this area, she has advised on numerous major cross-border securities offerings, including block trades, initial public offerings, privatisations, high yield transactions and debt issuances, in the context of public offerings and privately placed transactions in Europe and the United States.
Advocate, Associate, Member of the Public Procurement, Infrastructure Projects and Energy practices
Advocate, Associate, Member of the Dispute Resolution and IP/IT practices
Dispute Resolution, Real Estate, Insurance Industrial Risk Transport
Admitted to the Paris Bar, Mounia Larhrissi joined Gide's Banking & Finance practice group in 2016. She acts primarily for sponsors, senior and/or mezzanine lenders as part of asset, corporate and project financing operations.
Mounia holds a Master's degree in corporate law from Paris II - Panthéon-Assas University, and speaks French, English and Arabic.
Associate Mustafa Karadas specialises in the fields of mergers & acquisitions and corporate law. His practice covers commercial transactions, foreign investments, competition law, corporate governance and general company law advice.
Mustafa, whose practice also encompasses cross-border banking and finance transactions, advises borrowers and lenders on multijurisdictional financings.
Admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association in 2021, he graduated from Bilkent University Law School in 2020.
Nadège Nguyen is a partner in Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions/Corporate practice group. Her practice covers domestic and cross-border acquisitions and corporate matters, in particular in the industrial, hotel and agribusiness, food & beverage sectors, as well as private equity transactions.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2008, Nathalie Benoit is a partner in Gide's Banking & Finance practice. She specialises in acquisition finance, corporate finance and debt restructuring, where she acts on behalf of credit institutions, debt funds, sponsors and industrial groups.
Nathalie is graduated from the University of Paris-Dauphine (Master of Corporate Law) and from the University of Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne (Master 2 in Banking and Finance Law).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2006, Nicolas Planchot specialises in real estate and planning law, construction law, acquisitions and real estate financing and commercial leases.
Well-versed in all aspects of property deals, Nicolas Planchot enjoys extensive experience on large-scale projects, in particular in public-private partnerships including real estate, shopping centre and high-rise building projects from creation through to completion and marketing. He advises leading companies active in the construction and public works sectors, institutional investors, investment funds, major operators and chains, as well as landholding corporations, management companies and financial institutions.
Recent experience includes advising on the refurbishment of the Parc des Princes football stadium, the financing of real estate developments around the French MoD's new location, the sale to a sovereign fund in Middle East of a building located on the Champs Elysées for over 500 million euros, the structuring for an insurance company of three OPCIs to hold assets exceeding 600 million euros, and their sale to real estate investors.
Hall of fame
Olivier Prost has been a partner at Gide's Brussels office since 2002. He is admitted to the Paris Bar (1993) and the Brussels Bar (1994). In 2008, he was appointed as a French foreign trade advisor (Europe section).
Olivier started the international trade law and WTO litigation practice at Gide. He advises companies and governments in the use of trade defense instruments (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures). He is also very active in several areas which are becoming increasingly important to international trade due to the impact of globalization: market access and regulatory barriers, tax discrimination, health and environment, energy, trade secret and export control.
He intervenes also in the formulation, interpretation and implementation of EU laws in several industries regularly affected by trade laws, including in European and international litigation.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2003, Olivier Loizon is a recognised expert in business litigation.
He advises and assists his clients - companies, managers and shareholders - in managing and resolving the complex and sensitive disputes they face.
Prior to joining Gide, he practised for nine years with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP (2003-2012), before founding SLVF in 2012 and merging with Viguié Schmidt & Associés in 2017.
Partner Olivier Dauchez is experienced in business and corporate law with a special emphasis on domestic and international tax law, particularly in relation to mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganisations, real estate, structured finance, and project and asset financing.
He also advises on personal tax matters and is active in tax litigation for both individuals and companies, assisting in tax audits and litigation before tax courts.
Consistently ranked among the leading professionals in tax law, Olivier has been cited as a 'remarkable' lawyer, who shows 'impressive skills in managing high-level strategy' (Legal 500 EMEA 2017).
Hall of fame
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 1990, partner Olivier Diaz has over 25 years' experience in complex mergers and acquisitions, private equity operations, securities law and corporate law. His practice covers a wide variety of transactions, in particular public and private acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and corporate restructurings.
During his career, Olivier has worked with clients on the largest and most complex M&A transactions in France, particularly in industrial fields, such as telecoms, energy, financial institutions and the food industry. He also assists companies on complex governance issues and is regularly consulted by regulators on securities and corporate law issues.
Olivier Bernardi is a partner within Gide's Banking and Finance practice group in Paris. He specialises in banking and finance law, with particular focus on financial services.
Olivier advises credit and financing institutions, as well as investment firms, payment institutions and electronic money establishments on the legislation and regulations applicable to their activity. He assists and represents these financial bodies in dispute proceedings before the French supervisory authorities (French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) and French Financial Markets Authority (AMF)), as well as before ordinary courts of law.
In this regard, Olivier handles issues pertaining to the structure of financial institutions, bank operations, investment services, payment services, new banking technologies and the distribution of banking and financial products. He also advises regulated financial institutions on the implementation of their internal procedures (internal control and compliance, risk management, AML/CTF issues, international economic and financial sanctions).
He has extensive expertise in payment systems and services, and works with a number of companies in the sector.
He is regularly involved with the French (Ministry of Finance, ACPR, AMF) and European authorities (European Commission, European Parliament) as regards the drafting of banking and financial regulations, or certain specific topics.
Paul Jourdan-Nayrac was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2010. Prior to joining Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice in 2013, he was an associate within the M&A / Private Equity / Venture Capital practice group of US law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius' Paris office for three years.
Paul specialises in mergers, acquisitions, venture capital and private equity matters, acting primarily in the technological sector, on complex operations or deals with an international dimension.
He acts more particularly on venture capital, capital investment and private equity issues with a French or international dimension, especially in the technological sector, advising both investors and issuing companies. He works with investors and growth companies during funding rounds, restructurings, external growth operations and exits. Paul was actively involved in creating the Gide Venture legal platform dedicated to start-ups. He is also a member of the team working in partnership with the Raise Foundation, offering free legal advice to start-ups.
Lastly, he works on LBO and OBO operations for investment funds and managers.
Advocate, Partner, Head of the Banking & Finance, Private Equity / Venture Capital, Labour Law and Defence & Aviation practices
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the Banking & Finance practice
Pierre Karpik is a partner in Gide's Mergers-Acquisitions/Corporate practice group. He specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate law.
Pierre is more specifically involved in venture capital and capital investment transactions, particularly high-tech, and is counsel both to investors (Eurazeo/Idinvest, Isai, 360, Ventech, Accel, BlackFin, BpiFrance, etc, to corporate entities interested in the starup companies (Legrand, CNP, CMA, Société Générale...) and to issuing companies (Doctolib, BlaBlaCar, Meilleurs Agents or Younited Credit, as well as, in the past, Fortuneo, Price Minister,, etc.). He advises investors and growth companies on their funding rounds, restructuring, external growth transactions and their exit.
Pierre Karpik has maintained close ties with the Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) business school, where he provides training on venture capital.
He has from day one be regularly listed as a Leading Individual in the Private Equity - Venture Capital section of the Chambers Europe and Legal 500 directories, as well as in the rankings of French magazines Décideurs and Option Droit & Affaires.
Advocate, Partner, Head of the Litigation & Arbitration, Infrastructure, Public Law, Public Procurement and IP/IT practices.
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the Dispute Resolution, Public Procurement, Infrastructure, Data Protection practices
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the Real Estate practice
Raphaëlle Dequiré-Portier is a partner in Gide Loyrette Nouel's Intellectual Property, Telecoms, Media & Technology Department.
Her practice focuses mainly on advising and assisting clients in disputes with regard to patents and trademark law. She has gained wide experience in domestic and pan-European disputes, particularly in the field of patent infringements and the validity of patents. Raphaëlle also advises on copyright issues and unfair competition law.
Raphaëlle Dequiré-Portier defends and advises some of the world's leading brands, notably in the luxury, jeanswear and consumer goods sectors. In patent law matters, she has advised on the most recent cases concerning drugs, particularly with regard to supplementary protection certificates.
Rémi Tabbagh is a partner in the Gide Banking & Finance practice group in Paris. He specialises in structured finance, particularly in real estate structured finance transactions. He advises clients (mainly French and foreign credit institutions, private equity funds) on structuring, drafting, negotiating and restructuring complex debt transactions.
Rémi Tabbagh has broad experience in all types of assets and real estate structured finance transactions, including acquisition financings, construction and development financings, hotels financings, portfolio and pan-European financings, SIIC and REITs financings, Shariah-compliant financings, real estate financings to be refinanced through the issue of Pfandbriefe, mezzanine financings, restructuring of real estate structured debts, transfer of real estate debts portfolio, and financings of sale & lease-back transactions.
Partner Renaud Baguenault de Puchesse is a member of Gide's Real Estate Transactions & Financing practice group. He has widely acknowledged experience in advising on acquisitions of buildings (offices, retail outlets, businesses) and companies with underlying real estate assets. Over the last ten years, he has been instructed in connection with more than 100 transactions, each worth at least 15 million euros. He is the regular advisor to several German investment funds as well as French and international institutional investors in the structuring of complex transactions.
His practice includes construction and planning law, commercial leases and legal and tax structuring for asset acquisitions and financing in France.
In 2019, Renaud was involved in two major transactions which are worth in total 1 billion euro. He in particular advised BNP on the sale and lease of their future headquarter in Boulogne-Billancourt and Bouygues Immobilier in the sale of a large office building in Issy-les-Moulineaux rented out to Canal + and sold to Sogecap.
Hall of fame
Partner Richard Ghueldre is in charge of Gide's Insurance, Industrial Risk & Transport practice group. He specialises in French and European insurance and re-insurance law, as well as in tort law.
He has in-depth advisory and litigation experience of insurance contract law (life and non-life), regulatory issues concerning insurance companies and intermediaries (establishment, operational aspects and restructuring), as well as setting up insurance programmes and distribution schemes, both in France and abroad.
Richard has developed an expertise in solving (pre-litigation, disputes and arbitration) and managing claims, in particular as regards industrial risks. He can also draw on broad experience in class actions and dispute resolution, particularly before the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority. In 2021, Richard has been recognized "Lawyer of the Year" in Insurance in Best Lawyers 2022.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2012, Romain Rard is a partner within Gide's Economic & European Law team, working out of the firm's Brussels office. His practice focuses in particular on EU regulatory matters (financial services, telecoms, media, transport, chemical industry, etc.) and on French and EU competition law (State aid, merger control, and antitrust).
Romain represents European and national trade associations, as well as leading market players, and in this capacity advises on rule-making and policy implementation process of European institutions and EU agencies.
Romain has developed in-depth knowledge of EU processes and gained solid expertise regarding prudential matters, taxation, and anti-money laundering, as well as ESG matters and sustainable finance.
Romain is a graduate of Lyon III and McGill Universities. He speaks French and English.
Rupert is an English Barrister and an Avocat à la Cour. He is head of the Firm's dispute resolution team in London. He specialises in international arbitration relating to construction, joint ventures, aerospace and international commerce.
Having started his career as a Barrister in London in 1992, Rupert joined Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris in 1995 and became a partner in 2001. He relocated to the Gide office in London in 2012.
Rupert acts as counsel in arbitration proceedings in English and/or French, most frequently under the ICC or LCIA rules. He has also appeared before tribunals under a variety of institutional rules in Asia, the Middle East and Central Europe. He is "an excellent advocate who masters technical details of complex projects".
Rupert is regularly appointed as an arbitrator. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Rupert is an English Barrister and an Avocat à la Cour. He specialises in international arbitration and dispute resolution proceedings relating to joint ventures, construction contracts, aerospace and international commerce.
He acts as counsel in both common law and civil law arbitration proceedings in English and/or French. He has experience of the major institutional rules, particularly ICC and LCIA. Rupert is also regularly appointed as an arbitrator.
Admitted to the New York Bar in 2010 and Paris Bar in 2018, Saadia Bhatty is a partner within Gide's Dispute Resolution practice group in London.
She has more than 13 years' experience (including in Paris and New York) as counsel to private and state entities in cross-border disputes, in particular in international arbitration proceedings (commercial and investment), governed by the rules of various institutions (including ICC, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, SCC, HKIAC, VIAC, CAS and OHADA rules), as well as in ad hoc arbitrations (UNCITRAL), subject to the laws of both civil and common law jurisdictions. Fields of expertise include the energy, oil and gas, and construction sectors, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Saadia also advises governments in the drafting/reform of their investment treaties and national legislation.
She is a graduate from Harvard Law School, the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris, and the Ecole Normale Supérieure
Saadia regularly writes articles, lectures in top universities, trains private practitioners and government officials, and speaks at conferences in international arbitration across the world.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2011 (Paris Bar School 2011 class valedictorian), Sacha Willaume specialises in international arbitration and dispute resolution. He regularly acts as counsel and secretary to the arbitral tribunal in international ad hoc or institutional arbitration proceedings (ICC, ICSID, SIAC, CCIG, PCA) in the sectors of energy, joint ventures, distribution, intellectual property and construction, applying the laws of several jurisdictions. His experience also includes French court proceedings related to arbitration (challenge or enforcement of international arbitral awards, claims for breach of contract against arbitral institutions).
Sacha holds two Master's degrees from the University of Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne in international economic law (in partnership with Columbia Law School) and business law, as well as a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from King's College London (with First Class honours).
A member of the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum and the CFA-40, and a co-winner of the Best Award prize in the 2016 Young Arbitrators Match, Sacha is also recommended by Legal 500 EMEA. He has taught French contract law as a teaching assistant at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and published several articles about French case law.
M&A / Corporate
Based in Gide's London office, Samir advises international financial institutions, investment funds and corporations on their structured finance and securitisation transactions.
His expertise covers the structuring of domestic and international transactions across many different asset classes (including SME loans, trade receivables, lease receivables, syndicated loans, whole business securitisations and project bonds), sectors (such as financial institutions, oil & gas, agribusiness, manufacturing, real estate) and jurisdictions, including in emerging markets.
Samir has been involved in many innovative and high-profile structured finance transactions in Europe over recent years, such as one of the largest trade receivables securitisation programmes in Europe, the first rated car fleet securitisation in Belgium and the setting up of a major French project bonds transaction. Samir also regularly acts for clients on various other finance matters, such as loans portfolio sales, the setting up of debt funds, complex debt financings, debt trading and risk transfer transactions.
Hall of fame
Samy Laghouati is the partner in charge of the Algiers Office which he founded in 2003. He has been exclusively involved in business ventures and investments in Algeria, acting for both public bodies (government agencies and state-owned enterprises) and foreign investors. He mainly handles privatisations, acquisitions, as well as large-scale infrastructure transactions (real estate and energy, water).
He assists his clients with every stage of the deals, from the structuring (legal and fiscal) to the execution and following through of the investments.
Lecturing at the Algerian Higher Business School (international taxation).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2008, partner Ségolène Pelsy specialises in all aspects of competition law. As regards merger control, Ségolène handles complex transactions that may require the negotiation of innovative commitments. She has, for instance, acted on the acquisition of ready-meals player William Saurin by Cofigeo and on the first use by the Minister of the Economy of his right to raise a case on other grounds than those of competition law (Phase III). Moreover, she has assisted SNCF on the notification to the European Commission of the creation of railway companies Eurostar and Thalys. She has also acted for clients as third parties (plaintiffs) in Phase II operations such as Arianespace and ChemChina / Syngenta. As regards anticompetitive practices, Ségolène has been working on the procedure brought against Google by the European Commission for abuse of dominant position. She has assisted one of the main plaintiffs, and is now assisting it as intervener before the EU General Court.
Additionally, Ségolène has significant experience of cartel procedures and the management of related internal audits (compliance training), and assists trade associations active in Brussels in this regard. Lastly, Ségolène advises companies in competition law in countries outside of Europe, in close partnership with the firm's other international offices located in particular in North Africa.
She holds an LL.M. in European law from the Institute for European Studies (Brussels), a Master's degree in French and English law from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, as well as an LL.B. in European and international law from King's College in London.
Admitted to the Paris Bar, Sibylle Chomel de Varagnes joined Gide's Real Estate Transactions & Financing practice group in 2017.
She specialises in real estate, construction and corporate law, assisting French and international operators in real estate operations and commercial leases.
She graduated in law and finance from the University of Lyon III Jean-Moulin.
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2006, partner Simon Auquier is a member of Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group. He moved to the Casablanca office in early 2010, where he now heads the M&A department, after spending four years in Gide's Paris office. He works on corporate acquisitions and divestments, acquisitions of equity holdings, as well as investment and industrial partnership projects for foreign investors seeking to move into Morocco and/or expand their existing investments in the country. In addition, he works for Moroccan clients on joint ventures with foreign partners, acquisitions in Morocco, etc. Simon also assists both Moroccan and foreign clients on their investment projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Over recent years, he has been involved in a number of major acquisition and investment projects in West Africa, and in operations involving various African sub-regions.
Admitted to both the Paris and the New York Bars, Sophie Scemla's expertise focuses on international litigation and white collar crime, with a particular emphasis on international cooperation and internal investigations.
She has managed international disputes, extensive international fraud cases, international money laundering, tax fraud and criminal proceedings. Sophie has been involved in several high-profile criminal matters and international corruption cases (some in connection with the "Oil for Food" case), in the negotiation of agreements with foreign authorities.
Regularly involved in conducting corporate investigations in France, Africa and Asia, Sophie recently coordinated international investigations involving the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China, Angola and Brazil, and has implemented compliance programs and risk-mapping for a number of French and international groups.
Sophie has assisted French and foreign companies in the context of international cooperation cases, notably to invoke the French blocking statute and trade secret regulations in order to limit the transmission of information to foreign authorities.
Hall of fame
Stéphane Puel heads the Investment Funds & Asset Management team. He advises French and international financial institutions on all regulatory matters, and in particular on structuring, setting up, documenting and distributing regulated and non-regulated French and foreign law open-end and closed-end investment funds, such as hedge funds, REITs, private equity funds, infrastructure funds and distressed debt funds.
Stéphane is in regular contact with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on all matters relating to licensing management companies, setting up investment funds, and distributing French and foreign investment funds and structured products.
Stéphane also advises these entities on the conduct of business rules applicable to them and assists them with court or disciplinary proceedings linked to their activity. He is a member of the Gide team which assisted the ASPIM since 2004 on the revamping of the regulations applicable to French real estate funds (OPCI).
Stéphane Vernay is a member of the Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice group. With over 30 years of experience in the Projects industry, he focuses on projects in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors. He acts in particular on large scale power generation projects (thermal, nuclear and renewable), on infrastructure projects (ports, airports or railways) as well as in the environmental sector. Stéphane advises developers, sponsors, financial institutions and public authorities. He advises on projects in Europe, Africa, Asia, LATAM and Australia.
He has also developed particular expertise in the fields of national and international contracts in the aerospace and defense industries, advising on construction, maintenance and service contracts related to space launchers, ships, aircraft, submarines, simulators, satellites and other military products.
Stéphanie Philippe joined as a financial forensics expert in January 2022. She has a strong background in both accounting and investigation. She worked at the AMF as an investigator, then as a financial expert for investigating judges in the financial department of the Paris criminal court, and finally as a controller at the H3C, the high council of statutory auditors in France. It is a very innovative move for a law firm to hire a financial expert, which aims at providing our clients with the complete span of both legal and financial expertise.
Attorney-at-law, Associate, Member of the Competition Law and Commercial Contracts Practice
Thierry Dor is the partner in charge of information technology and personal data law in Gide's Intellectual Property, Telecommunications, Media & Technology practice group. He advises the firm's French and international clients with regard to IT projects, the Internet, e-commerce, social networks, software and database protection and marketing, implementation of personal data processing and international data transfers. Thierry Dor spent eleven years as General Counsel for major international groups, and therefore has a good knowledge of companies' expectations.
He also assists clients of the firm in their IT-related litigation. He is member of ADIJ (Association for the Development of Legal Information), ITech Law Association and IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals). He is a frequent speaker at conferences on new technology law.
Thierry Dor advises the firm's French and international clients on all issues with regard to information technology law including Internet law and, more particularly e-commerce; software and database protection; and implementation of personal data processing and international data transfers. He assists clients in drafting and negotiating contracts relating to outsourcing, hosting, integration, licences, maintenance and development. He also assists clients of the firm in their IT-related litigation.
Before joining Gide as partner, Thierry Dor spent eleven years as General Counsel for major international groups, ensuring he is able to offer sound and practical advice to the firm's clients.
Thomas Courtel specialises in two main fields: infrastructure and public companies.
As regards infrastructure and public facilities, his team offers a comprehensive service, from the contractual structuring and financing of projects, operational support, through to asset disposals and refinancing.
As regards public companies, Thomas works on the nationalisation, privatisation and reorganisation of groups and supports their development: industrial partnerships, debt restructuring, public procurement.
Thomas Urlacher is a partner and member of Gide's M&A / Corporate practice group, with first-class expertise in complex acquisitions, strategic alliances (joint ventures) and corporate structuring. His practice covers a wide range of industries, in particular service industries (banking and insurance, IT and telecommunications), energy and manufacturing (automotive, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage).
He is active in the service sector (bancassurance, telecoms, IT), energy and industry (automotive, pharmaceuticals, food processing). Thomas also has extensive expertise in complex real estate joint-ventures and M&A transactions.
Thomas spent three years at Gide's Casablanca office and managed Gide's Beijing office for five years. There, he developed unique experience in international, cross-border M&A. He has advised, for example, many Chinese investors on their acquisitions in France and Africa.
Member of the Paris Bar, Thomas is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and holds a DJCE-DESS in Business Law from the University of Strasbourg. Thomas is referenced in China in the latest Legal 500 Asia Pacific and mentioned in Projects & Infrastructure in China by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2013.
Thomas Brusq was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2017, and specialises in sports and public law.
He acts more particularly for private and public persons, both on contentious and non-contentious matters, in public contracts law (public procurement, concessions, land occupancy agreements, administrative long leases), public and economic law (public aids and mixed economy law) and public property law (pre-emption rights, expropriation, town planning authorisations and regulation).
Thomas holds a Master's degree in public business law from the Institut de Droit et d'Economie des Affaires, as well as a Master's degree in public law from Bretagne Occidentale University. He is also a graduate of the Institut de Droit Public des Affaires.
Advocate, Associate in the Real Estate Department
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2009, Victor Grandguillaume is a member of the Projects (Finance & Infrastructure) practice group where he focuses on projects in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors. He acts in particular on thermal and renewable energy power plants, and on mining and infrastructure projects (ports, airports, roads, water treatment plants). Victor advises sponsors, financial institutions and public authorities on all aspects (development phase, drafting and negotiating project and financing documents) of projects located in Europe and Africa.
He has developed specific expertise in the field of renewable energy projects in Africa, and advises leading sponsors, financial institutions and public entities on the development and financing of wind, solar and hydro power plants in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He is a graduate of ESCP-Europe (Master in Management, Finance, 2007) and Paris XI University (Master 2 Professionel, Business Law, 2007).
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2005, partner Wacef Bentaibi specialises in project finance (including PPPs, BOTs and concessions) in sectors such as energy, infrastructure and transport (ports, airports, highways, bridges, tramways, etc.), acting for governments, sponsors and lenders. Wacef has extensive experience in all aspects of industrial projects and real estate developments, as well as public contracts and large-scale construction projects in Morocco (plants, hospitals, universities, hotels and shopping centres...). He has also developed a strong practice within the energy and natural resources sector, including upstream oil & gas and mining, and regularly advises international operators and governmental entities in Morocco and across the MENA region.
Advocate, Associate, Member of the M&A, Corporate Law, Private Equity/Venture Capital practices
Xavier Lecomte is a senior associate within Gide's Mergers & Acquisitions / Corporate practice group in Paris. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, investments (both domestic and international), joint ventures and general corporate law. Xavier has extensive experience advising clients in emerging countries and spent four years practising in Gide's office in Algiers.
Prior to joining Gide, Xavier worked six years at Cleary Gottlieb.
Xavier is admitted to the Paris Bar and graduated from the ESSEC business school.
Admitted to the Paris bar, Chen Xi is a counsel in Gide's Beijing office. His practice focuses mainly on assisting Chinese clients on their investments and acquisitions outside China, and European clients on their projects in China. Before joining Gide's Beijing office, he was a member of the Competition and Project teams in Gide's Paris office.
Chen Xi has extensive experience in advising public and private clients (mostly Fortune Global 500 and listed companies) on their investments in Africa, Europe and China, in various sectors such as mining, energy, infrastructure, agriculture/fishery, pharmaceutical, industry and banking, and involving both acquisitions and greenfield projects. He recently acted for IFC on a major water PPP project in China, Chinalco on the Simandou iron ore mining project (one of the world’s largest mining projects), Chalco and COSCO Shipping on a bauxite mining project in Guinea.
Chen Xi has also developed significant expertise in Chinese competition law, helping European clients obtain merger control clearance and advising them on competition law compliance issues in China.