Olswang in France. At a glance

Transcription

1 Olswang in France At a glance

2 At a glance FT Innovative Lawyer Award Winner Financial Times 2014 The Times Top 50 Employers for Women List The Times 2014 Europe Copyright Firm of the year Managing IP Global Awards Olswang in France - Olswang

3 About Olswang Olswang is a pioneering firm with a distinctive approach to business law and a progressive culture. Thanks to our connected, committed and commercial people, we have become the law firm of choice for leading entrepreneurs and innovators in Europe and Asia. Created over 30 years ago in London, we have built an unparalleled Technology, Media and Telecoms practice. As a full-service law firm, we have established a commanding reputation for changing the face of business in a wide range of other industries, from Real Estate to Retail and Life Sciences to Leisure. We have a European network spanning Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and the UK and an Asian base in Singapore. In total, we have approximately 450 lawyers. We break the mould in legal services. As a leading relationship management firm, we constantly strive to initiate improvements, for our clients and the industries they work in. We align our services to the way our clients think about the future. Above all, we help our clients stay connected, stay informed and stay sharp within their fields. Our people are our business. Working with the very best companies calls for ingenuity, verve and sharp judgment. Our clients rely on our capability, but they value our distinctive personality and culture. We know that if our people reach their potential, then our clients can too. About Olswang France Created in February 2011, and composed of approximately 30 lawyers, including 10 partners, Olswang France is a full-service firm advising clients across the range of their legal needs. Our team is composed of highly experienced and specialised lawyers who share a common approach in advising on business transactions, whether on a domestic or cross-border scale. We pride ourselves in contributing to the development of our clients businesses in France and internationally. We set ourselves apart by our approach to client service and our sectors focus, which enables us to provide legal advice in the context of a deep understanding of the commercial dynamics of our clients and their industries. We have particular experience in the technology and telecommunications sectors, two areas in which Olswang is particularly known. For cross-border matters, our clients have access to our fullyintegrated international team based across all of Olswang s offices, as well as a network of best friends elsewhere in the world. We frequently manage and co-ordinate cross-border, multijurisdictional matters on behalf of our clients. Intellectual Property IT/Telecoms Equity Capital Markets Employment Corporate /M&A Private Equity Tax Real Estate Litigation Olswang in France - Olswang 3

4 At a glance Our expertise Corporate/M&A The corporate/m&a team advises on the full range of corporate, M&A, and private equity transactions. Specific areas of expertise include public and private M&A, joint ventures, takeovers (including PIPEs and take privates of publicly-listed companies), and restructurings. We advise on stock exchange law, including the drawing up, implementation and compliance with corporate governance rules, exemptions to tender offers, concerted actions, and crossing thresholds. The team also focuses on equity capital market transactions (IPOs and equity raising transactions) and securities regulations. Finally, we also advise a number of leading players in European market on private equity and venture capital transactions. Our clients include large multinational corporations (listed and non-listed), banks and other financial institutions, private equity houses, entrepreneurs, and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). We are often called to act on complex transactions in areas such as hostile tender offers and cross-border transactions. Real Estate Our real estate group advises clients on the full range of matters in the sector including the drafting and negotiation of sale and purchase agreements (including corporate acquisitions of real estate companies), financing of real estate acquisitions (for borrowers), negotiation of development and construction or refurbishment contracts, sale and purchase agreements on a turnkey basis (both for investors and for developers), and negotiation of leases (both for investors and users and advice to asset managers). We also advise on all aspects of hospitality transactions including negotiation of hotel management agreements. Finally, we also represent clients in litigation, particularly with regards to construction matters and leases. IT/Telecoms Our IT/Telecoms team covers the full spectrum of IT, outsourcing, telecom and data protection legal services. Our lawyers are experts in drafting and negotiating strategic technology, IT procurement and outsourcing agreements. They have also significant experience on advising on telecom regulatory issues and assisting clients on infrastructure sharing deals as well as performing due diligence on M&A transactions for telecom or IT companies in emerging markets (with a focus on the Middle East and Africa). The team also specializes in data protection compliance audits, global data transfer solutions, data security breaches, e-discovery procedures, clinical trials, privacy policies, notifications to the CNIL and various dealings with the European Commission, the Data Protection Working Party 29 and local data protection regulators. The team also supports clients on e-business and internet-related legal issues, such as the validity of online contracts, online advertising, IT security and e-signatures. Our clients include national and international telecom operators, tower companies, technologies companies and companies concerned with the use of personal data. Recommended for 9 practices in Legal 500 EMEA and Legal 500 Paris Our clients include some of the leading French and international real estate companies, investment funds and developers. 4 Olswang in France - Olswang

5 Litigation We advise our clients on the full range of dispute resolution options, including litigation before all levels of the French courts. We also counsel our clients on pre-litigation negotiations, including defining their strategy and the drafting of settlement agreements. We handle all communications with judges and appear before the courts on behalf of our clients seeking interim measures and proceedings. We conduct substantive advocacy before the Tribunal de Commerce (Commercial Court), Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court), and Cour d Appel (Court of Appeal). Tax The tax group advises corporations and high net worth individuals on the full range of tax issues arising out of both domestic and cross-border matters. We advise on all tax aspects of corporate transactions, including in-bound and out-bound investment, M&A, restructuring, and international tax optimisation of income streams and asset ownership. We also advise on tax audits and disputes with the French tax authorities. Particular sectors of focus include R&Dheavy industries such as technology and life sciences. Our team has built up a particular expertise in transfer pricing. We work with our in-house economists in assisting multinationals design and implement transfer pricing policies. We are also active in the incentives area. We act for clients on the design, implementation and operation of cash and sharebased incentive arrangements, such as stock options and warrants, and advise on the impact of such arrangements on corporate transactions. Intellectual Property We provide a fully-integrated service at all stages of the IP lifecycle. Our specialists advise on IP rights protection, transactions and litigation, ensuring a realistic and pragmatic approach to our clients IP assets. Our unified service puts us in a unique position to advise on strategy, risk, litigation and freedom to operate. We provide a full range of services in the patents area, including extensive experience in litigation in the life sciences and telecommunications sectors. In the trade marks space, we offer a comprehensive solution for trade mark strategy, clearance, application and registration, through to exploitation and enforcement. In the copyrights area, we frequently work with clients whose copyrights comprise some of the most valuable creations in the world. We also accompany our clients on all their exploitation, licensing and partnering needs, delivering commercial arrangements that properly reflect the deal, with mechanisms in place to extract proper value for the rights being licensed. Employment The employment team acts mainly for international groups present in France. Our areas of focus include restructurings, compensation policies, redundancies, and international labour law, such as secondments and expatriations. Team members also have deep experience of areas such as social plans in connection with downsizing, dealing with workers representatives such as works councils, unions, individual and collective dismissals, handling the employment law aspects of corporate transactions, and negotiation of senior key management departures. We also represent clients in individual and collective employment litigations and advise on employment audits. Olswang in France - Olswang 5

6 At a glance Matter Highlights Burger King France Warner Music Belgacom Aegis Advising Burger King France, mainly held by Groupe Bertrand, in relation to the acquisition of fast food chain Quick. Advising Warner Music Group on the acquisition of a key part (consisting of the Parlophone Label Group) of EMI Music, the British record label acquired last year by Vivendi's Universal Music Group (UMG) and the subsequent restructuring and integration of the Warner and Parlophone businesses. Advising Belgacom, the largest Belgian telecommunications company, in relation the divestment of its French IT services unit Telindus, a French market leading ICT services company and leading integrator for cross-border ICT projects, to Vivendi Group and its subsidiary SFR. Advising on the corporate and tax restructuring of the Aegis Group in France in the context of its buy-out by Dentsu in 2012 and Aegis is a worldleading media digital & media communications group.. Cristal Union LISI Tristan Capital s Mitsubishi Estate Advising Cristal Union Group, a major European player in the sugar, alcohol and ethanol markets within the framework of its strategic alliance with American Sugar Refining (ASR) Group, a world leader in cane sugar refining. Advising LISI Group (listed on NYSE Euronext Paris), a worldwide leading manufacturer of threaded and clip fasteners and assembly components for the aerospace and automotive industries, on its acquisition of Manoir Aerospace Group. Advising Tristan Capital s and STAM Europe on the PariSquare building, a newly developed 24,100 sqm. urban office campus, to Oxford Properties. We also advised on the 10-year fixed term lease to Publicis Group of the PariSquare s office areas Advising Mitsubishi Estate on the acquisition of an office building located in Paris from one of Invesco Real Estate's funds, leased to Allianz Real Estate tenants such as Financial Times and Optimind and former headquarters of daily newspaper Les Echos. Alpha Private Equity Telecommunications Living Social Information Technology Advising Alpha Private Equity Fund 6 on the acquisition from Kering/PPR of the children and family fashion brands Vertbaudet and Cyrillus for 119 million. Advising a global telecommunications operator in the context of the review of a strategic partnership agreement entered into with a telecoms licenses holder across various African jurisdictions. Advising Living Social, a US company acting in online daily deals and social buying e- commerce, on the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Dealissime, a French company, from its two founders and other minority shareholders. Advising a global supplier of health care IT solutions on the drafting of its template cloud SaaS master services agreement and on the legal, technical and operational issues and documents to be prepared in the context of obtaining the relevant accreditation as health data hosting provider under French law. Mobile phones InfraRed Luxury sector Living Social Defending Chinese manufacturers of mobile phones in several patent litigation relating to patents underlying standard. Advising the investment fund Infrared Capital in a litigation related to a sale of significant assets from another investment fund and a wrongful termination of negotiations. Regularly representing a luxury group (jewellery, luxury watches and writing instruments) in copyright, trade mark and unfair competition matters, including protection of reputed trademarks, invalidation and infringement actions. Advising Living Social, a US company acting in online daily deals and social buying e- commerce, on the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Dealissime, a French company, from its two founders and other minority shareholders. 6 Olswang in France - Olswang

7 Key contacts Guillaume Kessler Paris office Managing - Corporate Karine Audouze Employment Christophe Gaschin Corporate - Telecoms Jean-Frédéric Gaultier Intellectual Property Julien Monsenego Tax Vanina Paolaggi Corporate Emeline Peltier Real Estate Sylvie Rousseau IT-Telecoms Jessica Schinkel Corporate Clara Steinitz Intellectual Property Legal 500 Paris 2014 Guillaume Kessler, a very efficient, fast and available advisor, with a good understanding of industrial deals issues Chambers Europe 2014 Sources describe Jean-Frédéric Gaultier as a smart lawyer and a good litigator Chambers Global 2015 Julien Monsenego is very knowledgeable and provides excellent quality advice Chambers Europe 2014 Sources describe Jean-Frédéric Gaultier Olswang in France - Olswang 7

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