Firms To Watch: Private equity: venture/growth capital

Argos Advocats, a relatively new player in the market, advises innovative funds in the tech space as well as sustainability funds. Practice head Julien Sanciet is the key name to note.
Asafo & Co. specialises in private equity fundraising and early stage fund growth for French companies operating across Western and Central Africa, as well as advising on strategic partnerships between French and African clients. Noro-Lanto Ravisy, who has significant PE and M&A transactional experience in both sub-Saharan African and European jurisdictions, leads the team.
Led by Jérémie Aflalo, Parallel Avocats AARPI is dedicated to advising leading technology and digital companies through their business life cycle. The firm has additional expertise assisting technological disrupters in the context of landmark legal disputes and sensitive investigations surrounding the digital transformation of the French economy.
Notable for providing 360 strategic, business, and legal advice, Spark Avocats acts as counsel for private equity funds, family offices, and impact funds. The team is jointly led by Ariane Olive and counsel Mathieu Ducceschi.

Private equity: venture/growth capital in France

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.

Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I.‘s ‘highly experienced team’ provides top-tier advice to startups and mature fast-growing companies, as well as a range of investors. The practice is jointly led by Pierre Karpik, David-James Sebag and Louis Oudot de Dainville. Karpik specialises in venture capital and capital investment transactions in the technology sector, and Sebag is dual qualified at the New York bar. De Dainville is particularly focused on venture capital, and advises all actors on fundraisings, external growth transactions, and restructurings.

Responsables de la pratique:

Pierre Karpik; David-James Sebag; Louis Oudot de Dainville

Autres avocats clés:

Paul Jourdan-Nayrac; Diane Jouffroy

Les références

‘Very good business relationship with Pierre Karpik and Louis Oudot de Dainville, who both make themselves available extremely quickly, have long and valuable experience in VC transactions, and have a pragmatic approach to matters that facilitate conflict resolution.’

‘Unique knowledge of the French ecosystem with unmatched track record in working for tech companies.’

‘Team always available and very responsive to any request with excellent quality of deliverables. Reacts smoothly to any kind of situations as their experience allows them to have already faced almost any situation.’

‘Highly experienced team.’

‘What differentiates from other firms is the quality of the team in its availability, its patience and its resilience even on the most complicated operations, but obviously also in the expertise of the teams in our sector and the cross-border issues; very transparent invoicing with details on each project and by type of team to then have an overall discussion on pricing. Pleasant to have a mixed team!’

‘Quality, availability, resilience – I think that our last two operations would not have succeeded with another firm less committed than Gide.’

‘For an international tech company like ours, the attraction of the Gide team is the breadth of resources that are available to handle all aspects of a project without having to retain multiple firms. Another key benefit is their ability to meet tight timelines that sometimes cannot be avoided.’

‘Louis Oudot de Dainville is particularly relevant in venture. He has real experience on the subject, knows how to be pragmatic when the need arises while defending our interests as well as possible.’

Principaux clients

Doctolib

Mnemo Therapeutics

Partech Partners

Greenoaks

Younited

Temasek

IVP

Eurazeo

D1

Blossom Capital

Liontree

Coatue Management

Bpifrance

Spendesk

Meero

Blablacar

Sinovation

JVP

Principaux dossiers

  • Assisted 360 Capital Partners (one of the investors) with the Series D financing round of Exotec, a leader in global warehouse robotics.
  • Assisted Spendesk, a spending management solution for small and medium businesses, with (i) its Series C financing with General Atlantic, Eight Roads Ventures, Index Ventures, and eFounders; and (ii) the extension from Tiger Global, a large US growth fund.
  • Assisted Temasek (investment fund) with the series E financing round of French insurance startup Alan.

Jones Day

Jones Day has a ‘very high quality team’ of specialists who regularly represent top tech and biotech companies, as well as the industrial and strategic investors who finance them. The practice skilfully supports clients at every stage of development, with deep expertise in private equity, M&A, and capital markets transactions. The group is jointly led by Renaud Bonnet, Charles Gavoty, Jean-Gabriel Griboul, Geoffroy Pineau-Valencienne and newly promoted partner Alexandre Wibaux. Anne Kerneur, promoted to of counsel in early 2023, is also noted for her support on financing rounds and IPOs.

Responsables de la pratique:

Renaud D. Bonnet; Charles Gavoty; Jean-Gabriel Griboul; Geoffroy Pineau-Valencienne; Alexandre Wibaux

Autres avocats clés:

Anne Kerneur

Les références

‘Very high quality team, perfectly mastering the legal and business issues of transactions.’

‘A very strong team the client can fully rely on to deliver. Excellent understanding of the market and issues clients deal with which enables them to provide practical solutions. I can fully rely on this team on the most complex issues.’

‘Alexandre Wibaux is a leader in his field and my go-to person for complex corporate transactions. Backed by a global team of experts Alexandre and the team can provide the best advice available on the market.’

Principaux clients

Swile

BackMarket

ManoMano

Ankorstore

Bpifrance

Matera

Eurazeo

Amolyt Pharma

Creadev

Eki Metrics

Valar Ventures

Hi Inov

Seventure Partners

Planity

Mérieux Equity Partner

Elaia Partners

OpenClassrooms

Institut Pasteur

Snapshift

360Learning

August Debouzy

August Debouzy's private equity team assists leading companies and investments funds with capital raising projects, and is deeply involved with key players in the startup sector. The practice offers advice on venture and growth capital operations, as well as LBOs, MBOs, and M&A transactions. Julien Aucomte has considerable expertise handling major cross-border transactions and Julien Wagmann advises on management packages and shareholders’ disputes. Senior associate Laure Khemiri is also a key name.

Responsables de la pratique:

Julien Aucomte; Julien Wagmann

Autres avocats clés:

Laure Khemiri

Les références

‘Good quality, serious team, which is gaining momentum.’

Principaux clients

CAISSE DES DEPOTS ET CONSIGNATIONS

10T

GREENOAKS CAPITAL

SEQUOIA CAPITAL

RAISE INVESTISSEMENT

CAPZANINE

CATHAY CAPITAL

ELAIA PARTNERS

AXELEO CAPITAL

ISAI GESTION

KERNEL INVESTISSEMENTS

ALSID

TINYCLUES

ARTÉMIS

VINCI GROUP (LNRD INVEST)

QAPA

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Coatue, Fidelity and Catalio in the context of their minority investment (Series C) in the capital of DNA Script, a company developing a DNA printer capable to create up to 96 DNA fragments within hours for laboratories.
  • Assisted Sequoia Capital, a US venture capital firm, in connection with the French law aspects related to its investment in Zefir, specialist in instant property sale, in the context of a total capital raising of 20 million euros, and in Multis Inc, specialist in crypto wallet for business, in the context of a total capital raising of 5,3 million euros.
  • Advised Recommerce Group, a forerunner in refurbishment since 2009, on its cooperation with United.b (Boulanger, Electro Dépôt, Hifi, Krëfel, etc.) and other leading industrial actors.

Bird & Bird

The cross-practice team at Bird & Bird provides a full service approach to venture capital clients, advising at every stage of the business cycle from development to exit through M&A or IPO. Emmanuelle Porte co-heads the ‘remarkable team’ with a focus on the biotech, medtech, and healthcare industries. Fellow co-head Gildas Louvel handles private equity transactions, as well as public and private M&A mandates. The team was further strengthened by the addition Xavier Leroux from Dechert LLP.

Responsables de la pratique:

Emmanuelle Porte; Gildas Louvel

Autres avocats clés:

David Malcoiffe; Carole Bodin; Xavier Leroux; Lionel Berthelet; Sylvie Hamel

Les références

‘Emmanuelle Porte – relevant, committed, available, listening skills, and also knows how to surround herself with highly competent lawyers, to complete the legal projects submitted.’

‘The firm provides access to a multidisciplinary team that responds to any type of problem a company may face. Emmanuelle provides us with her invaluable assistance and is always present on the various projects that our company has had to carry out over the past 10 years.’

‘Emmanuelle Porte has in-depth knowledge of the biotech community, M&A operations and the various players in these two sectors.’

‘Very experienced team and force of proposal in the negotiations to succeed within reasonable deadlines. Long-time collaboration and I will not be changing firms.’

‘Remarkable team of Emmanuelle Porte. She has a very professional and very meticulous team at work.’ 

Principaux clients

Evolem

ByMyCar

Eight Roads Ventures

BPI

Hispalis -Vecade

Domain Therapeutics

Korea Investment Partners

Alma

BPI (Fonds SPI and Fonds Digital Venture)

Vantage Infrastructure UK

Velogik

Tercera

Cardiologs Technologies

Shift Technology

Moon Surgical

Sofinnova Partners

EarlyBirds

Karista

Aqemia

Exotrail

Preligens

Astorg

MD Start

Principaux dossiers

  • Advising Evolem, lead investor, on the owner buyout (OBO) of ACOEM Group along with the minority investment of Ixo Private Equity and Idia Capital Investissement.
  • Represented Alma, a fintech company, in connection with its 115m€ Series C financing round.
  • Advising Domain Therapeutics in its 39M Series A with a syndicate of international VC and investors and historical shareholders.

Chammas & Marcheteau

The team at Chammas & Marcheteau combines deep sector specialism with leading venture capital expertise, advising both investors and their corporate targets. Lola Chammas and Denis Marcheteau focus on private equity and corporate M&A transactions, with a wealth of experience in guiding clients through every stage of the business cycle. Nicolas Lecocq has a focus on major cross-border mandates. Christophe Blondeau joined the team from CMS Francis Lefebvre in March 2022.

Responsables de la pratique:

Lola Chammas; Denis Marcheteau; Nicolas Lecocq

Autres avocats clés:

Stéphanie Bréjaud; Jérôme Chapron; Christophe Blondeau

Principaux clients

Iris Capital

Seventure

Supernova Invest

Anaxago/Cap Horn

Extens

Leko Labs

XAnge

Voyageurs du Monde

Nextstage AM

Sham

Bpifrance

Cathay Innovation

LBO France

Eyevensys

Continuity

Enchanted Tools (ex Simplex Robotics)

Stonly

Damae Medical

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Iris Capital on Exotec’s US$335 million fundraising.
  • Advised LBO France on the €70 million Series C financing of Diabeloop.
  • Advised Inventure on Sorare’s US$680 million Series B round.

D'Ornano + Co.

D'Ornano + Co. conducts both buy and sell-side assessments for LBO, growth, and venture capital transactions, as well as providing strategic advice to companies in the tech space. Practice head and managing partner Raphaëlle d’Ornano has considerable expertise advising global investors across all asset classes on tech and tech-enabled companies. Associates and tax specialists Marcus Schmidbauer and Arthur Leclerc provide additional support.

Responsables de la pratique:

Raphaëlle d’Ornano

Autres avocats clés:

Marcus Schmidbauer; Arthur Leclerc

Principaux clients

PSG Equity

Valar Ventures

Revaia

Benhamou Global Ventures

Earlybird Venture Capital

Left Lane Capital

Tikehau Capital

Marlin Equity Partners

Infravia Capital

KKR

Five Arrows Private Equity

Singular

BlackRock

Creadev

BPI France Large Venture

Partech

Eurazeo

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Left Lane Capital on the acquisition of Moka.care via a Series A venture funding in February 2022.
  • Advised InfraVia Capital Partners on the acquisition of Packhelp via a Series B venture funding in November 2021.
  • Advised PSG on the acquisition of Whoz via a growth venture funding in May 2022.

Goodwin

Goodwin supports venture and growth capital funds, as well as emerging and scale-up companies, through the full business life cycle from early stage to exit. Thomas Dupont-Sentilles has expertise advising global venture funds and innovative companies in the tech sector, and Benjamin Garçon specialises in assisting startups and SMEs on incubation, equity financing rounds, external growth transactions and exits. Anne-Charlotte Rivière has a focus on the life sciences and tech sectors and an interest in deeptech matters.

Responsables de la pratique:

Thomas Dupont-Sentilles; Anne-Charlotte Rivière; Benjamin Garçon

Les références

‘Loyalty, finesse, seriousness.’

‘Anne Charlotte Rivière – Professionalism, availability, experience.’

Principaux clients

Agronutris

Dental Monitoring

DNA Script

eCential Robotics

GFBiochemicals

Innovafeed

Lucca

Umiami

Vestak

Andera Partners

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Astorg

Benchmark Capital Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners

BOND

Bpifrance

Cathay Capital

DST

Jeito Capital

Karista

Kurma Partners

Lauxera Capital Partners

Lead Edge Capital

Left Lane Capital

OTPP

Quadrille Capital

Radian Capital

Sectoral Asset Management

Sofinnova Partners

Vitruvian Partners

Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP

Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP‘s ‘very experienced team’ has an extensive track record of handling high-level growth and venture capital transactions for a range of clients including private equity funds, strategic and institutional investors, and portfolio companies. Stéphane Huten advises clients on stock exchange law and corporate governance issues, and Matthieu Grollemund is noted for his wealth of experience assisting with sophisticated growth and buyout transactions across a number of highly regulated industries. Hélène Parent 'combines great technical skills with a keen sense of the business aspects'.

Responsables de la pratique:

Matthieu Grollemund; Stéphane Huten

Autres avocats clés:

Hélène Parent

Les références

‘I have worked with Hélène Parent on a number of transactions. Hélène has an excellent knowledge of the market and terms. She combines that with an ability to advise pragmatically in order to achieve optimum solutions. I always enjoy working with Hélène, even in tricky scenarios, which is a testament to her ability to build relationships with her clients.’

‘Very experienced team, incredibly fast in execution, always very good advice. Able to set the pace in deals, and to be the driving force to save time. Always meet deadlines.’

‘I have blind faith in their team and our lawyer. I know that he advises me by adapting to my needs and my level of knowledge. I can leave him to make decisions on several subjects.’

‘Hélène Parent is super responsive and great to work with. We work with Hogan Lovells in France because of her.’

‘Hélène Parent: combines great technical skills and a keen sense of the business aspects, which is rare. Strong reactivity and very good knowledge of VC deals, current market standards, etc. Real capacity for analysis, reflection, strength of proposal.’

Principaux clients

Accel

Activa Capital

Andera Partners

Andressen

Apax partners

Ardian

Argos Wityu

Auum

Atomico

Balderton

Azulis Capital, Arkea Capital, BNPP Développement, Socadif, MACSF

Bigblue

Blisce Advisors

BPI France

Calyxia

Cathay Capital Private Equity & Cathay Innovation

Chequers Capital

Cryptosense

Elaia

Eurazeo

Exotec

Fall Line Capital

Felix Capital

Five Elms Capital

Frontline Venture

Hivest Capital Partners

Hi Inov

Homa Games

IDI

Idinvest Partners

Latitude

Laurexa Capital Partners

Ledger

LFPI

Long Arc Capital

Partech

Proovstation

Northzone LP

Red River West

Seventure Partners

Siparex

TowerBrook Capital Partners (U.K.) LLP

Vade Secure

Vestiaire Collective

Verkor

Ÿnsect

White Star Capital

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Eurazeo, Bpifrance and Accel on their investment in Doctolib’s EUR 500M Series G – the largest fundraising in the highest valued French unicorn.
  • Advised Exotec, France’s first industrial unicorn, on its $335 million fundraising.
  • Advised Accel on all their investments in France: Lydia, Sorare, Payfit, Stonly, BeReal, Swan, Luko.

Orrick

Representing a mix of startups, growth-stage companies, and leading investors, the team at Orrick offers clients leading venture and growth capital advisory services. Benjamin Cichostepski regularly works with tech and internet companies, and assists clients through the full business cycle, from equity financings to external growth transactions. Olivier Vuillod works with startups and high growth tech companies, and has additional expertise with cross-border transactions. Olivier Edwards left the firm in 2022.

Responsables de la pratique:

Benjamin Cichostepski; Olivier Vuillod

Les références

‘I am particularly satisfied with the quality of the Orrick staffing; our day-to-day contacts are extremely specialized and know how to call on additional expertise if necessary; they show a very pragmatic attitude and are real problem-solvers; they know how to support us on a variety of highly complex needs (holding company, venture builder, VC funds, portfolio companies) with great success.’

‘Olivier Vuillod and the team are particularly excellent; they are distinguished by their level of availability, delivery and by the quality of the relationship they have been able to develop with us for more than 4 years; we consider them as true “legal business partners” and we turn to them whenever a need arises or in anticipation of our next challenges; we have never put them in competition since the beginning of our relationship (unless Orrick is conflicted and they ask us to).’

Principaux clients

Index Ventures

Alan

Princeville Capital

One Peak Partners

Cajoo

Sellsy

Homa Games

Gatewatcher

FundersClub

Idinvest Partners

Descartes Underwriting

Alice & Bob

Ganymed Robotics

PayFit

Sorare

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Sorare, a developer of an NFT (non-fungible token)-based fantasy football game, on its $680 million Series B financing round.
  • Advised PayFit on its €254 million Series E financing.
  • Advised Alan, insurtech startup, on its €183 million Series E financing.

UGGC Avocats

The private equity team at UGGC Avocats has a strong track record of advising leading investment funds and successful companies across all venture and growth capital operations. Practice head Charles-Emmanuel Prieur advises industrial and commercial operators on takeover transactions and asset purchase operations, and has a key focus on the new technologies, life sciences and financial services sectors. Prieur is supported by real estate experts David Gordon-Krief and Julien Mayeras, as well as M&A specialists Ali Bougrine and Yves Mondellini.

Responsables de la pratique:

Charles-Emmanuel Prieur

Autres avocats clés:

David Gordon-Krief ; Ali Bougrine; Yves Mondellini; Julien Mayeras

Les références

‘The team was very responsive, whether by email or by telephone, from the estimate to the project follow-up, which is appreciable when the timings are tight. In addition, the work provided was of high quality, with memos explaining the different situations encountered.’

‘The people were very available, quick-witted, with a great capacity for legal education, which is very important for the understanding of non-lawyers.’

Principaux clients

RedTree Capital

Bpifrance

Alliance Entreprendre

Mirova

Therinvest

D-AIM

Isatis Capital

Paylead

Advent France Biotechnology

Mutuelle d’Assurance des Professionnels de la Santé (MACSF)

Innovacom

Audio Investissement

Evariste

Valuestate Hotels

ART-Fi

Amundi Private Equity Fund

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC)

EDF Pulse Croissance

LBO France

Finfrog

Mooncard

Empreinte Digitale

IMSS/DocCity

Principaux dossiers

  • Assisted BpiFrance in the IPO of Forsee Power on the regulated market of Euronext Paris.
  • Advised Bpifrance Investissements and the sustainable investment management company Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, on their support for Agronutris.
  • Assisted RedTree Capital, a real estate investment fund, in a co-investment and financing with Eternam, for the acquisition and restructuring of a 3,000 square meter office building located in the centre of Paris, avenue Hoche.

Viguié Schmidt & Associés

Viguié Schmidt & Associés acts as counsel for leading venture capital funds and corporations on a range of sophisticated strategic investments, regularly working across the technology, real estate, and retail sectors. Practice head Louis Chenard works closely with the firm's strong tax team to provide a well-rounded private equity offering, and has particular expertise advising investment funds and promising startups.

Responsables de la pratique:

Louis Chenard

Les références

‘A team whose level of professionalism is total, seasoned lawyers, absolutely efficient, with an excellent sense of business and strategic issues so that their support is an essential, added value in the execution of deals and the support for companies.’

‘Responsiveness and availability; focus to get the deal closed; pragmatic and solution-driven, not too ‘formalistic’; taking ownership.’

‘Louis Chenard acts as a real team member of his client and takes particular ownership in ‘getting the deal done’.’

‘The team has been supporting us since the launch of our company 2 years ago, and offered us a capped amount for their services, which was essential for our start-up, in terms of predictability and cost containment. Despite our small size, the partner Louis Chenard is very present, which allows us to benefit from a high level of expertise and a personalized follow-up.’

‘Louis Chenard is always present during the calls, involved in all stages of the operation until its finalization.’

‘Louis Chenard: finesse, negotiation kills.’

‘The Viguié Schmidt & Associés team with whom we had the chance to work was perfect. Very professional, but also human, available, and aware of the subjects inherent in our world of innovation, impact and the world of startups.’

‘Louis Chenard led our project in a fantastic way.’

Principaux clients

IVP

Meritech

Headline (e.ventures)

Pace Capital Fund

Astanor

Alstom

Alter Equity

Caisse des dépôts et consignations

Edenred Capital Partners

Calcium Capital

LBO France

Danone Manifesto Ventures

IDIA (Crédit Agricole)

Revent

LO Capital

Educapital

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Headline in connection with Sorare’s EUR 580m venture capital financing round.
  • Advised IVP and Meritech in connection with Pigment’s EUR 70m venture capital financing round.
  • Advised Astanor in connection with Umiami’s EUR 27m venture capital financing round.

Villechenon

Villechenon has 'very extensive experience' in the venture capital space, advising investors and companies with fast growth potential on all types of venture and growth transactions. Morgan Hunault-Berret has considerable experience working with clients across a range of sectors including life sciences, telecoms and retail; she has additional capital markets expertise, and is notable for her regulatory assistance. Alexander Kotopoulis advises founders on commercial and data protection issues. Isabelle Burel-Blasoni and Erwan Tostivint also make up the leadership team.

Responsables de la pratique:

Morgan Hunault-Berret; Isabelle Burel-Blasoni; Alexander Kotopoulis; Erwan Tostivint

Autres avocats clés:

Alice Laroque

Les références

‘Great responsiveness, reliability, very good human contact with the client but also with other parties.’

‘Morgan Hunault-Berret: great experience in VC, very good relationship with the main lawyers of the place, good degree of involvement on the files’

‘Very extensive experience, always constructive in the search for solutions, facilitating deals, very good mastery of figures.’

‘A very good knowledge of the market, a great reactivity and above all a great experience that Morgan brings to her customers.’

‘Morgan Hunault-Berret is clearly the backbone of the firm.’

Principaux clients

GT Healthcare Capital Partners

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Racine2

Serena Capital

Anthemis

Cathay Innovation

Prime Ventures

Yseop

Broadpeak

Eurobio/ Diaxonhit

Youscribe

Wildbunch

Ventech (Vc)

Ekinops

Bonitasoft

Withings

Actility

Daphni (Vc)

Demeter

Zoov

Ring Capital (Vc)

Crocus

Acofi gestion

Witbe

Dejbox

Flashcell

Acerde

Herow

Orange Ventures

Anthemis Group

Seb Alliance

CM-CIC Investissement

Synapse

Makesense

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a US fund, on its first investment in France.
  • Advised Serena Capital on numerous operations per year.
  • Assisting Withings’ founder, a serial entrepreneur, for the past 10 years in all Withings’ transactions.

White & Case LLP

White & Case LLP regularly acts as counsel on some of the most high-profile growth transactions in the French market, working with both companies and investors. The practice advises clients on the full spectrum of venture capital and growth transactions including pre-investment due diligence, seed capital, growth stage financings, and exit. Team co-lead Saam Golshani specialises in private equity and M&A with a focus on the tech sector, and fellow co-head Guillaume Vitrich has expertise handling complex transactions in Europe and Africa.

Responsables de la pratique:

Saam Golshani; Guillaume Vitrich

Autres avocats clés:

Hugues Racovski

Principaux clients

Goldman Sachs Growth

Founders Future

CVC Capital Partners

Revaia (former Gaia Capital Partners)

Eurazeo

Battery Ventures

Lise Invest

Skello

Softbank

Thinksurance

Arianee

Luko

Day Plus for Care

Upflow

Buster AI

DEE Tech

Tikehau

The Bradery

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Softbank on its Series B round investment of U$500 million in exchange for a circa 17% stake in the capital of Sorare (with a pre-money valuation of U$3.4 billion).
  • Advised Eurazeo on its Series D round investment in Aiven (at a USD3 billion valuation) and on its latest Series E investment in BackMarket.
  • Advised Goldman Sachs on its Series D investment in Exotec.

Alerion

Responsables de la pratique:

Pierre-Olivier Brouard; Vincent Poirier; Antoine Rousseau; Christophe Gerschel

Les références

‘Competent, scalable, innovative, responsive, collaborative and adaptable team.’

‘The lawyers collaborate very well, form a multidisciplinary team capable of adapting to a large number of situations and within short deadlines while maintaining a high level of service.’

Principaux clients

Cubex

Step Pharma

EDF PULSE

Calcium Capital

Edflex

Journey (J.Journey)

Isatis Capital

Groupe Bridge

BMI System

La Belle Vie (Deleev)

Barooders

Winback

Siparex

Labelium

Cyllene / Bee up Capital

Médiamétrie

IRA Capital

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Selency, a startup specialising in the sale of second-hand furniture, on raising €35 million to launch its mobile application.
  • Assisting Siparex Intermezzo in its involvement in the reorganisation of the Maltem Group’s financing structure combining senior debt, mezzanine debt and the use of the new stimulus bond mechanism.
  • Assisted IRA Capital, a Southern Californian private equity firm, in the creation of a joint venture with Eagle Picture S.p.à (an Italian company) for the acquisition of the shares of a Paris-based real estate company.

BG2V

Responsables de la pratique:

Jérôme Albertin; Roland Guény; Hervé de Kervasdoué; Stanislas Richoillez; Camille de Verdelhan

Principaux clients

ANEVIA

AMBIENTA

ARCHERY

Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity

SOFINNOVA PARTNERS

GROUPE K9G (Pas-à-Pas)

KHARIS CAPITAL

PRECARDIA

LIMFLOW

MD SMART II

NEXSTSTAGE

NEWFUND

PHYSITEK

PLEIADE VENTURE

PLEIADE VENTURE

PLEIADE ASSET MANAGEMENT

SIPAREX

ORDOCLIK

IVC EVIDENSIA FRANCE

O’TACOS

ASTANOR

KAROT CAPITAL

INNOVAFOND

HIFIELD

Principaux dossiers

  • Advising Physitek group on reorganising its shareholder base through a sponsorless MBO organised by Andera Partners, which is providing €25 million in capital and mezzanine.
  • Advised Kharis Capital, a private equity fund that stimulates continuous growth and innovation in consumer companies, in the fundraising of the start-up Not So Dark, a Paris, France-based operator of a dark kitchen business for DTC food delivery.
  • Advised the funds managed by Edmond Rothschild Private Equity de on their investment in the holding company of TIKAMOON.

Bignon Lebray

Responsables de la pratique:

Edouard Waels

Autres avocats clés:

Laetitia Benoit; Tanguy Dubly; Alexandre Ghesquière; Jacques Goyet; Neil Robertson; Thierry Permezel; Alban Van de Vyver

Les références

‘The associate lawyers of Bignon Lebray are specialized in many sectors of activity and have very good expertise in legal corporate private equity.’

‘For my part, I exchange regularly with Alexandre Ghesquière in Lille. He is competent and efficient on the transactions he manages, finance advisory M&A expertise.’

Principaux clients

Altima

WayKonect

Unaide

CapHorn

NewCard

Hootside

Perspective Habitat

Elysis

Faber France

Dentelia

Cabaia

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Crédit Mutuel Arkéa on the C series of Yomoni, a fintech company.
  • Advising private equity firm Turenne Capital in the context of a minority takeover of Kali Group.
  • Advised the investment funds Demeter and Capagro, historical shareholders of Naio Technologies, a Toulouse-based manufacturer of autonomous agricultural robots, in a new €14M round of financing.

Degroux Brugère

Responsables de la pratique:

Jérémie Swiecznik

Les références

‘Jérémie is very responsive, pragmatic and aware of good VC practices. His team is growing without turnover, which is appreciable.’

Principaux clients

Bpifrance

Breega

Educapital

RGREEN

Alven

Financière Arbevel

Ring Capital

Maif Avenir

Deepki

Helios.do.

Sonio

Isai

Delsol Avocats

Responsables de la pratique:

Séverine Bravard; Henri-Louis Delsol; Philippe Dumez; Pierre Gougé; Emmanuel Kaeppelin; Philippe Malikian

Autres avocats clés:

Raphaël Ory

Les références

‘I was able to work with Philippe Malikian, corporate law partner, who is an exceptional practitioner both technically and relationally. Philippe has extensive expertise on all subjects of corporate law, always provides us with very valuable and informed advice in our transactions, produces very high quality legal documentation, is very available, in addition to being very friendly.’

‘Emmanuel Keppelin and Raphaël Ory are distinguished by their skills, responsiveness and advice in the context of potentially complex private equity operations.’

‘Excellent law firm, extremely flexible, very business oriented and which does not hesitate to give clear advice by measuring the associated risks and prioritizing the subjects.’

‘Henri-Louis Delsol has an excellent knowledge of the sector and a very constructive approach to negotiations thanks to a perfect knowledge of the issues and their prioritization. He is also available at any time.’

Principaux clients

Caisse Des Dépôts & Consignation

Cikaba

Cyclable

Demeter Investment Managers

Evolem

Financière Tiepolo

Garibaldi Participations

IK Partners

ITK

Ixo Private Equity / Idia Capital Investissement

Legos

Réalités

Rhône-Alpes PME

Runa Capital

Sorgem Evaluation

Principaux dossiers

  • Assisted Evolem and the management team in the context of Cap Vert’s LBO in favour of the Italian fund Ambienta.
  • Advised Demeter Investment Managers, CDC and CMA CGM Ventures on Telaqua’s fundraising.
  • Advised Financière Tiepolo in the context of its merger with J. de Demandolx Gestion.

Dentons

Responsables de la pratique:

Olivia Guéguen

Autres avocats clés:

Pascal Chadenet; Guillaume Kessler

Principaux clients

21net

Amadeus Capital Partners

Benhamou Global Ventures (BGC)

Bpifrance Large Venture

Dxo

Gilde Healhcare

Group Up

Imcheck Therapeutics

KKR

Laboratoires Servier

Mitsui & Co, LTD

Pentax Medical

Piano Software

Quicksign and Panorabanque

REACH

Snips

Target Global Early Stage Fund II LP

TotalEnergies

Vsquared Ventures

Xaalys

You and Mr Jones

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Bpifrance Large Venture on the US$75million Series B financing of TreeFrog Therapeutics.
  • Advised ImCheck Therapeutics on a €96 million Series C financing round.
  • Advised Zoī, a Paris-based start-up specialised in digital healthcare, on its seed round fundraising for a total amount of €20 million.

Fiducial Legal by Lamy

Responsables de la pratique:

Eric Baroin; Julien Hollier; Misha Raznatovich

Principaux clients

INOVA

WIISMILE

SEVENTURE PARTNERS

CAPITEM

AQUASOURCA

JET METAL TECHNOLOGIES

DTA MEDICAL (VISTACARE MEDICAL)

D2X EXPERTISE

ALPEX PROTECTION

ORIXHIA

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised SEVENTURE PARTNERS on numerous venture and private equity transactions in 2021/2022.
  • Advised the shareholders of INOVA on the capital development transaction conducted by THE CARLYLE GROUP along with NEXSTAGE AM.
  • Advised the shareholders of WIISMILE and NEXTSTAGE AM on the capital development transaction conducted by EURAZEO.

Harlay Avocats

Responsables de la pratique:

Marie-Laure de Cordovez; Olivier Cognard

Autres avocats clés:

Thibault Chareton

Principaux clients

Bilendi

Egide

Qosmos

Linkfluence

Famar

Ynsect

Klaxit

Comet Meetings

Quest Education Group

Guard Medical

Weenat

Compagnie des Amandes

Time for the Planet

Joffe & Associés

Responsables de la pratique:

Virginie Belle; Aymeric Dégremont; Christophe Joffe; Thomas Saltiel

Principaux clients

A PLUS FINANCE (GAÏAGO)

BPI France, RAISE & EDUCAPITAL (POWER Z)

BPI France (FARMITOO)

ACTON CAPITAL (HUBLO)

BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT, CONDÉ NAST, EURAZEO GROWTH, & autres investisseurs (VESTIAIRE COLLECTIVE)

I-Lunch

Prello

Addworking

BPI France & INNOVACOM (AI VERSE)

VITRUVIAN PARTNERS, VENTECH, BPI FRANCE & TURENNE GROUPE (SINGULART)

BPI France (GITGUARDIAN)

Uavia

Therapanacea

BPI FRANCE / EMERGENCE THERAPEUTICS

BPI FRANCE (INTERCLOUD)

ACTON CAPITAL (CONVELIO)

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation (Dracula Technologies)

Ambrosia (Pepette)

Gadsme

Cashbee

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Responsables de la pratique:

Dana Anagnostou; Alexandre Omaggio; Sebastien Pontillo; Reid Feldman

Les références

‘A team with a real track-record, which knows its trade.’

‘Its complementarity with the finance team of the firm and their ability to work together is an essential added value on many files.’

‘Sébastien Pontillo has a very pragmatic approach to the issues at stake.’

‘Competent team, responsive, facilitator in conflicts, professional work.’

‘Alexandre Omaggio – Very good knowledge of innovations in the market and transactions, allowing speed and quality of execution of high quality.’

‘Excellent knowledge of the market, regulations and good practice in the execution of transactions.’

‘The team is well-staffed and highly organised which allows efficient and highly-valuable execution of all legal tasks entrusted to them. Transparent prices allowed us to have visibility, which have always been respected.’

‘Sébastien Pontillo provides high-quality and sharp advice for both domestic & cross-border transactions. He knows how to think ‘out of the box’ by proposing creative and pragmatic structures while maintaining the highest legal standards. Sébastien is one of those lawyers with whom you can make your company grow by relying on his legal expertise but also on his understanding of the business. He is always available on very short notice.’

Principaux clients

ARCURE

BIZAO

BPIFRANCE

DEFACTO

EQT CAPITAL PARTNERS

GLOBAL INNOVATION FUND

INFRAVIA CAPITAL PARTNERS GROWTH

KARMEN

MANSA

LUMOS CAPITAL GROUP

SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE CAPITAL PARTENAIRES

TIKEHAU ACE CAPITAL

Principaux dossiers

  • Advising Bpifrance on the acquisition of the Hygie31 group (Lafayette pharmacies group) along with other investors, notably Latour Capital.
  • Advising Société Générale Capital Partenaires on the investment in the BK Consulting group along with the founders and management.
  • Advised Karmen on its fundraising of €22M (in equity and debt), from Samaipata, Fasanara and business angels.

LERINS

Responsables de la pratique:

Laurent Julienne; Guillaume Jarry

Autres avocats clés:

Marc Gervais

Les références

‘Lerins’ team has been remarkable. The members are very friendly while also being diligent and showing strong expertise. It is a pleasure to cooperate with them as we can not only rely on a high quality end result, but also on a very easy-going process and open communication until the task is accomplished.’

‘I have worked with Marc Gervais and Laurent Julienne and they have been both exceptional. The communication with them is very easy and their industry knowledge is remarkable. The solutions they provide are very practical-oriented and presented in a “user-friendly” manner.’

Principaux clients

Shareholders of Factory Systems|Grp

Société Générale Capital Partenaires

Crédit Mutuel Equity / BPI France

EXPENSYA

Oris (Holcim Group)

Circle Mobility

MAVERICX

TAKE TURNS

Orsay Avocats

Responsables de la pratique:

Frédéric Lerner; Samira Friggeri; Pierre Hesnault

Autres avocats clés:

Claire Guionnet-Moalic

Les références

‘Well versed in business standards in our life science venture capital industry.’

Principaux clients

CapAgro

Jeito Life

Moka Care

Argiduna Capital

Quantum Genomics

Hedosophia

Index Ventures

Groupe WS

Level Up

Ventech

Jaina Capital

Mediarithmics

IXO PE

Dark Matters

El Capitan (Pop Chef)

JDRF

Citizen Capital

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised QUANTUM GENOMICS on its private placement on Euronext Growth Market (with Otium Capital as lead investor, Julphar and other investors).
  • Advised MOKA.CARE on its Series A funding with investment from Left Lane / Singular Capital Partners / Origins (Blaise Matudi) and Business Angels (Antoine Griezmann).
  • Advised POP CHEF on its Series B funding (investment of Meridiam Green Impact Growth Fund, Bourrelier Group, Céleste Management, and Philippe Salle).

OYAT

Responsables de la pratique:

Caroline Basdevant-Soulié; Guillaume Ledoux

Les références

‘OYAT proved to be a very proficient firm in M&A/LBO. The team is made up of seasoned partners with demonstrated expertise in high-stakes business & financial environments. Particularly efficient in French and cross-border contexts, OYAT has a capacity to sustain a heavy workload, deliver outstanding results, and to provide their customers with above-expectations value throughout the deal lifecycle.’

‘Their strong determination, in a particularly difficult market context, secured a deal that would not have been possible without their involvement and sheer commitment toward making this a success for all stakeholders. OYAT stands out as a very positive budget-to-value ratio and impressively skilled firm to work with in mid-to-high cap markets.’

‘Caroline Basdevant-Soulié: Result-driven lawyer, focused on long-term value with the appropriate range of skills to build long-lasting trust and to support deal(s) expectations.’

‘Guillaume Ledoux: Negotiation mastermind, forward-thinking & very strategic lawyer with an important workload capacity, leveraging strong personal expertise to deliver critical results. Excellent interpersonal skills and overall business understanding. Potentially the best lawyer we had the occasion to work with over the course of the last 8 years.’

‘Very professional team, combining legal rigour and expertise with a very good understanding of business issues and a very good responsiveness This firm is also distinguished by its ability to present legal documents, or legal subjects in legal design, which is a real plus since it is necessary to federate various interlocutors on legal subjects and more particularly the transactional aspects.’

‘Caroline Basdevant-Soulie is an excellent professional who knows how to defend the positions of her client, while understanding the political and business issues, and having the ability to explain points with tact. Her knowledge and interest in startups are a real plus.’

‘They provide a highly responsive partner level service. They are very commercially minded and proportionate in their approach to the issues that are important to clients. Very friendly and efficient. International work is clearly important to the firm and is delivered across jurisdictions with a high level of teamwork with other legal advisers.’

‘Caroline Basdevant-Soulié is simply brilliant and very user friendly. This is epitomised by her focus on providing commercial solutions and reassurance on matters that are important to clients. She has a strong and firm negotiating style, framed within a collaborative and friendly approach. International work is clearly a focus of the team and for Caroline, who brings international experience to play that is equivalent to a what you might expect from a much larger firm.’

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Yotta Capital Partners regarding their two LBO transactions on AET Technologies (July 2021) and RECIF Technologies (September 2021).
  • Represented Arpilabe Holding, the leading France-based joint stock company which partners with entrepreneurial pharmacists to take over and significantly increase the value creation of high-potential retail pharmacies in France.
  • Advised la Banque des Territoires (Caisse des dépots et consignations) on its strategic partnership with Amadeus and Dawex, in order to create Alentour, a digital platform that digitises a large catalogue of leisure activities from all French territories.

Sekri Valentin Zerrouk

Responsables de la pratique:

Olivier Legrand

Autres avocats clés:

Sophie Gilbert

Les références

‘Having had Olivier Legrand in several cases with us, we appreciated his technical and pragmatic side and do not hesitate to recommend him.’

‘We worked with Olivier Legrand. Compared to other firms, we have seen a great experience and knowledge, which turned out to be a great ability to negotiate with the opposing party.’

‘Friendly and efficient team.’

‘Olivier Legrand, very constructive.’

‘Olivier Legrand: partner in Venture / Capital Innovation, with whom I worked on a few files. I can confirm that Olivier is brilliant on fundraising and M&A sale files for technology companies.’

‘Olivier Legrand: very gentle style of communication, experienced in all the subtleties of legal clauses in VC and M&A disposal of technology companies, and therefore capable of successful excellent negotiations.’

Principaux clients

77 Foods (La Vie)

Core Biogenesis

Ze Energy

WHOZ

Top Harvest

Kinetix

Fairbrics

Elevo

Orus

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised 77 Foods (La Vie) on its €25 million fundraising from Seventure, Partech, Capagro, Entrepreneur First and Bleu Capital.
  • Advised Ze Energy on its €40 million fundraising from Marguerite, Demeter, HTGF, EverWatt and Ze Way Invest.
  • Advised Top Harvest, the Silicon Valley venture capital fund, on its €12 million investment in HederaDX.

Taylor Wessing

Responsables de la pratique:

Gilles Amsallem; Nicolas de Witt; Laurence Lapeyre; François Mary; Anne-Juliette de Zaluski

Principaux clients

Demeter

Founders Future

iFly Venture Capital

Isatis Capital

Eiffel Investment Group

BforCure

LeHibou

Predictice

Isatis

Kresk Développement

Insitu

Avanteam

Walter Billet Avocats

Responsables de la pratique:

Fabien Billet

Autres avocats clés:

Christophe Cussaguet

Les références

‘Walter Billet has strong expertise in this area, with complementary profiles, which allows us to deal with the most complex scenarios and to solve them quickly. Its main strengths and assets are experience, responsiveness, proactivity, good human management and their strength of proposal during negotiations.’

‘We work in particular with Fabien Billet, who accompanied us on three capital increases. Fabien has always given us good advice on these operations, particularly on the legal level (negotiation of the clauses of the shareholders’ agreement). Depending on the situation, he can be directly involved in discussions with our partners and their legal advisors, which facilitates discussions and makes the fundraising process faster. His experience in this area guarantees us that our positions will be acceptable to the investment funds with which we interact.’

‘Christophe Cussaguet assists us in drafting the capital increase documentation. Christophe demonstrates great rigor and perfectly manages voluminous, long and complex documentation. His great expertise in this area allows us to calmly manage several fundraising operations.’

‘The Private Equity team: venture capital and development capital within the firm Walter Billet has strong expertise in this area, with complementary profiles, which allows us to deal with the most complex scenarios and to solve them quickly. Its main strengths and assets are experience, responsiveness, proactivity, good people management and their strength of proposal during negotiations.’

‘Proximity and total availability of the teams, with an ability to adapt the discourse and the advice according to the profile and the opposing parties.’

‘Strengths and assets of the team: – Expertise, perfect mastery of the problems encountered by our company – Efficiency – Integration into the team of complementary services: labor law, GDPR, intellectual property.’

‘The people who stand out within the team: – Mr Fabien Billet, true expert in his profession, reactive and reassuring.’

Principaux clients

Balderton Capital

Entrepreneur Invest

Red Alpine

Kard

Standing Ovation

Iconoclaste

Bureaux à Partager

Akur8

Syclef

Absiskey

Ipsilon

Energysquare

Koyeb

Virtuo Technologies

Yellow Korner

Frontline Media

YARDS

Responsables de la pratique:

Igor Doumenc; Jean-Philippe Jacob

Autres avocats clés:

Eric du Peloux

Les références

‘The firm that has the wind in its sails and which is currently rising strongly in the venture capital ecosystem. One of the main firms that we use. We use them for seed as well as 100th rounds, as well as international M&A. Mainly for corporate matters, but sometimes with the support of their tax, labour law or litigation teams.’

‘We appreciate Jean-Philippe Jacob and Eric du Peloux’s ability to bring deals to a successful conclusion with great flexibility, autonomy and diplomacy. They understood before others the evolution of practices: from deals based on the balance of power, to today deals that must lead to market practices quickly. Good knowledge of the ecosystem and practices, responsive, pragmatic… Modern firm with good use of digital technologies.’

Principaux clients

Malt

BlaBlaCar

Alantra International Corporate Advisory

Avolta Partners

Peninsular Capital

BMS

Aprometal and Arone Metal Production

NextStage AM

BPI France

BNP Paribas Development

Wolf Lingerie

Comatch

Inbolt

Be Brandon

Veesion

Join

360learning

Weinberg Capital Partners

Webforce3

Mindee

Groupe Finacca

Pequignet

Amundi Private Equity Funds

Carizona

Intm Groupe

Conquest

Natixis IM

Asobo Studio

Coblence Avocats

Responsables de la pratique:

Alexandre Brugière; Ludovic Dorès; Marion Fabre

Les références

‘Very innovative and responsive.’

Principaux clients

BIOGROUPE and its founders

BITSTACK

TOOL4STAFFING

NEOBRAIN

Management of DIABELOOP

TOMO

MANSIO

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Biogroupe and its founders in the context of on its capital raising.
  • Advised Neobrain and it founder in the context of its capital raising.
  • Advised the management of high-growth diabetes company Diabeloop on its Series C financing round.

FIDAL

Responsables de la pratique:

Sabrina Bol

Autres avocats clés:

Olivier Josset; Mathieu Aurignac; Anne Mehu; Christian Fournier; Joanna Candelier; Bertrand Ducoin; Anne Frechette; Jacques Darbois; Geoffrey Burrows; Cédric Leroyer; Charlette Mercier; Jean-Régis Gallizia

Les références

‘Ability to mobilize several skills and thus manage a global problem.’

‘The availability as well as the conduct of the negotiations by Ms Joanna Candelier are to be noted.’

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised UNIGRAINS/SOFIPROTEOL/ARKEA CAPITAL/ARKEA BANQUE/CREDIT AGRICOLE TRANSITION/IMPACT AGRO on the structure of their investment in EUREDEN to finance part of the acquisition of an agro-food group.

FTPA

Responsables de la pratique:

Nathalie Younan

Autres avocats clés:

Sylvain Clérambourg; Charles Philippe Lettelier

Principaux clients

IRIS GALERIE

CUURE

DILITRUST

HAPIK

PENNYLANE

ARMILAR; AMAVI CAPITAL

PLEDG

NEXTSTAGE AM

COOK-E

MENILMONTANT

EULERIAN

Gowling WLG

Responsables de la pratique:

Patrick Mousset; Barbara Jouffa

Les références

‘Availability and total flexibility of the teams. Creativity & precision in deal making. Very fluid technological set up.’

‘Barbara Jouffa: Iron hand in a velvet glove. Very efficient and direct deal maker in successful M&A negotiations. Precise in its recommendations & explanations.’

‘Agile and relevant firm with a strong ability to adapt to client requests’

‘Complete team in terms of skills (intellectual property, corporate, financing, ….) and knows how to coordinate through its network or outside for international audits.’

‘Barbara Jouffa: coordination, transversal skills, interfaces with all the actors who have gravitated around the project (investment bank, finance auditors, Tax,….), high quality reports and respect of deadlines with a complicated data collection context.’

‘Barbara Jouffa is the best lawyer with whom I have had the chance to work, although I already had a few years of experience with other renowned firms.’

‘Barbara Jouffa is a high quality advisor, with a lot of experience, very responsive and efficient.’

Principaux clients

Brighteye Ventures

Safran Corporate Venture

Engie New Ventures

Fortino Capital

Alliance for Impact

Educapital

Sencrop

Ventech

Chalfen Ventures

Ring Capital

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Ventech and Chalfen Ventures on their investment in Reveal (50 million dollars – series A).
  • Advised French ag-tech startup Sencrop on its 18 million euros series B round by Israeli fund JVP that specializes in climate and foodtech initiative.
  • Advised the EdTech fund Educapital acting as lead investor with MACSF in relation to Invivox’s serie A fundraising (7 million euros – series A).

Solferino Associés

Responsables de la pratique:

Fouad Bellaaroussi; Bernard-Olivier Becker

Les références

‘We recommend Bernard-Olivier Becker.’

Principaux clients

Bpifrance

Natixis/BPCE

Qonto

Kamet

Park Partners / Perpetua Investment Group

Pléiade Investissement

Montefiore

Netgem

Near

Nice & Green

Rothschild & Co

IDI

Aviz.io

Ardian

Vergnet

Jakala

Mediobanca

Compagnie des Alpes

Visiomed

Deskeo

Principaux dossiers

  • Advised Olinda (Qonto) in the context of its Series D fundraising of €496M€ and on its crowdfunding campaign through the platform Crowdcube (circa €5M).
  • Advised Bpifrance and Montefiore on their investment in Pierre & Vacances – Center Parcs.
  • Advised Perpetua Investment Group in the context of its investments within Singularity Corp (VERA) and Skettch (Bymov).