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Mayer Brown has been advising locally based and international clients in France for the last four decades. Our Paris office brings together an intimate knowledge of the French corporate environment with the resources and knowledge of a major US law firm to provide highly focused advice on domestic and cross-border transactions of all kinds.
Combined Expertise | Innovation | European know-how
Project Management | Transatlantic Resources | Global Reach | Press Releases | Contact Information
Our Paris office is not just another US outpost. It combines experience in both French and international law to offer comprehensive solutions.
Combined Expertise
The lawyers in Mayer Brown's Paris office are qualified in French, US and UK law. By joining forces with our other offices worldwide, they can advise clients in a large number of additional jurisdictions.
Our Paris office provides clients with integrated legal advice on transactions in the French market and internationally. We advise on every aspect of French business law both for local companies and for overseas businesses investing in France. We also provide assistance to French corporations doing transactions in foreign markets.
We pride ourselves on the multicultural approach of our Paris office. Our lawyers have a broad mix of professional and cultural backgrounds, and are equally comfortable advising on cross-border deals as they are on French transactions.
This international outlook and broad range of practical experience provides our clients with a depth of insight and versatility that we believe is unique among law firms in Paris.
We advised on the combination of two French businesses.
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As part of a multi-million dollar merger between two high profile US companies in the technology sector, we advised local management on the corporate, labour, tax and other legal aspects of combining the group's operations in France. Working in conjunction with our Chicago office, our advice also included implementation in the French context of complex stock option and other employee benefit plans that were part of the merger plan in the US. The combination of the French businesses proceeded according to plan and without complications.
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We have a track record of initiating ground-breaking deals and developing leading-edge solutions.
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Innovation
In areas such as structured finance, real estate investment and environmental issues, Mayer Brown has worked with clients to pioneer a number of innovative approaches to deals in France and further afield.
We advised on one of the first non-recourse financing structures to be used in France for the purchase of a major real estate investment portfolio. Structures of this kind were new to the French banking industry and this innovative transaction became particularly visible as the volume of US funds investment in France increased significantly.
Environmental law is another area where we excel. We frequently advise in France on the complex issues involved in environmental due diligence. We also provide advice on environmental obligations faced by companies setting up operations on both existing and greenfield sites, conducting internal audit-style reviews of where management stands in relation to local rules and regulations.
Lotteries and gaming are a third area where our Paris office leads the field. We have been closely involved in the legal and commercial aspects of this activity both in a French context and internationally.
Our philosophy is straightforward: there is no reason why a deal cannot be done, even when it has not been done that way before.
We helped set a precedent in French financing structures.
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In a transaction worth some US $200 million, we acted for a syndicate of 20 lenders for the financing of a non-recourse, asset-based structure for the purchase of a real estate portfolio in France by a US investment bank. The innovative structure deployed represented one of the first such deals ever to have taken place in France, and has helped the lead bank in this transaction acquire a reputation in the marketplace for being a leading French specialist for this kind of financing.
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With offices in Paris, Brussels, London, Frankfurt, Berlin and Cologne, Mayer Brown has dedicated resources in Europe's major commercial centers.
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European know-how
The Paris office of Mayer Brown is one of six offices strategically located across Europe's key markets. As such, it provides French and other clients with a focal point for practical assistance on all kinds of intra-European transactions.
France and Germany are each other's largest trading partners, which make our French and German offices particularly valuable to clients doing business between the two countries. Mayer Brown also has well established and highly active offices in the UK and Belgium.
This experience is available to assist clients not only in their dealings across the European Union's three largest markets, but also throughout the rest of the European continent. Our offices in Europe work together on a regular basis, pooling their experience on cross-border client projects, developing multidisciplinary solutions to transactional issues involving several different jurisdictions.
Mayer Brown's network of offices also enables us to achieve important synergies in terms of maximizing the range and depth of experience available to clients. Among the practice areas where these synergies provide particular benefits are structured and project finance and real estate.
We provide a one-stop solution across Europe.
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Our Paris office worked with our offices in Germany and the UK to advise on the FF2.4 billion acquisition from a major French corporate group of some 50 significant properties across France, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. We also advised a financing syndicate of a dozen banks, including a number from Germany, on a deal governed by French law which required a security package to be implemented in each jurisdiction as near as possible to the structure used in France. Our European network meant that our client benefited from a one-stop solution for the entire transaction.
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Our partners are not figureheads; they take an active leadership role in all client assignments.
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Project Management
Quality project management and client service are paramount at Mayer Brown. Every engagement is handled by a lead partner assigned to manage the transaction, supported by the latest information management techniques.
Strong project management skills are essential to fast and successful transactions. Because partner involvement is core to our client service philosophy, the partners in our Paris office take personal responsibility for ensuring that each project is completed on time and that all the key elements are handled efficiently. They are supported in this role by highly experienced associates with proven track records in handling complex national and cross-border assignments.
We also employ the most up-to-date technology to ensure that projects are run effectively. This might include, for example, the use of extranets to give your organization access to relevant document management, know-how and billing information. In addition, we can make use of secure 'virtual' deal rooms on major transactions.
We created a project management extranet site to service a major French bank.
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In an ongoing commitment to using technology to add value in our service to clients, we created an extranet site for a major French bank. Accessible via a URL given to the client, the site is both a business and personal resource. It assists with transaction management of all deals done with Mayer Brown, allowing the secure exchange of documents, conduct of research and management of schedules. It also provides links to relevant business sites, consultancies and even personal information such as e-banking and business schools. The site contains a zone with information on the client's latest deals, news, policies and procedures, to ensure our lawyers provide the most efficient service possible.
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Combined knowledge of European and US laws means the firm is able to advise on almost all kinds of international transactions.
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Transatlantic Resources
Mayer Brown is a leading firm in the US, making Paris a key access point for our European clients to a full range of services on both sides of the Atlantic.
The US experience of our Paris and other European offices allows us to act as a transatlantic bridge for our European clients. With many of our Europe-based lawyers being US qualified, we can provide clients with on-the-spot US legal advice, supplemented whenever required by the additional expertise and resources of a firm which is one of the largest in the US.
Mayer Brown's US resources are formidable. Our lawyers provide a full commercial service from our offices in Chicago, Charlotte, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, and Washington.
New York, Charlotte and Los Angeles have particular experience in the financial markets. Washington is the location for our global trade practice, while Houston is the base for our oil and gas, natural resources and energy group.
We formed a transatlantic team for a major multi-jurisdiction transaction.
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Our Chicago and New York offices were advising the arranging bank and the originator company for a US $250 million securitisation of receivables held by the Brazilian subsidiary of a French industrial company. Our Paris office was brought in to advise the parent company and the arranging bank on the complex guarantee structures involved and to provide the required French law opinions. This combination of our French and US resources meant that, as a single firm, we quickly and efficiently addressed the legal, tax and accounting issues which arose on both sides of the Atlantic, in both the southern and northern hemispheres.
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From Europe and the Americas to the Middle East, Asia and Africa, our lawyers work throughout the world on a wide variety of transactions.
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Global Reach
Our Paris office provides a conduit to the hundreds of other Mayer Brown lawyers strategically located across the rest of the world.
The lawyers in our Paris office are your link to lawyers in the Americas, Asia and Europe. These resources make Mayer Brown one of the world's largest law firms.
In addition to our US base, we have an office in Sâo Paulo and an active practice in Central and South America, complemented by our correspondent firm in Mexico City, Jáuregui, Navarrete y Nader. Together, we have a wealth of experience across Latin America, including advising on securities, financing and corporate investment in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
We also work extensively in the Middle East and Africa. Mayer Brown has advised on transactions from Kuwait to Mozambique.
We are helping to create access to a wide variety of emerging markets.
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Our Paris office is working with a leading French construction company to implement its international expansion programme. Focusing on joint venture and technology transfer arrangements, we have structured and implemented agreements for our client in jurisdictions ranging from Romania and the Czech Republic to Malaysia and the Philippines. The way we work on each deal is to identify structures which not only meet our client's commercial objectives, but also reflect the company's operating culture and experience. As a result, our client has been able to enter a number of new markets secure in the knowledge that its interests are fully protected.
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Press Releases
Mayer Brown advises the successful bidder on the first public-private partnership agreement awarded by the French Ministry of Defence
6 February 2008 - International law firm Mayer Brown has advised the successful bidder on the first public-private partnership agreement ever concluded by the French Ministry of Defence (MoD). More >
Mayer Brown Conseille Senoble pour l'acquisition du groupe Elisabeth The Chef
21 septembre 2007 - Le cabinet d'avocats d'affaires Mayer Brown, a conseillé le groupe alimentaire Senoble pour l'acquisition du groupe Elisabeth The Chef, fabricant anglais de desserts et pâtisseries, détenu depuis 1999 par Primary Capital. More >
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw advises TIAA-CREF on its acquisition of Printemps de l'Homme for 186 million Euros
13 March 2007 - International law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP has advised TIAA-CREF on its 186 million Euros acquisition of Printemps de l'Homme, a major retail property located in the centre of Paris, from KANAM. More >
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw named "Law Firm of the Year" by Private Equity Magazine
28 February 2007 - International law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP has been named 'Law Firm of the Year' at an awards ceremony held by Private Equity Magazine, the French publication dedicated to capital investment. The event which was held on 13 February 2007, honoured the most proactive capital investment professionals operating within France and the rest of Europe during 2006. More >
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Contact Information:
Jean-Philippe Lambert
Senior Partner
jplambert@mayerbrown.com
20 Avenue Hoche
75008 Paris
France
Telephone: +33 1 53 53 43 43
Facsimile: +33 1 53 96 03 83
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