Frederic Saffroy, partner of the Contract-Competition-Compliance department, was invited by the British Commission for Maritime History to deliver a lecture on his work on French defence policy of naval bases in the first half of the twentieth Century. This lecture was delivered at King’s College, London, on 26 January 2012 under the aegis of the Department of War Studies. Frédéric Saffroy obtained a PhD in History on 18 March 2011 for his thesis on “The Shield of Neptune” (dir. Professor Maurice Vaïsse). His viva was held at the Centre d’histoire de Sciences-Po with a Franco-Italian-British jury chaired by Professor Jacques Frémeaux.
Gérald Lagier and Julien Criard, two members of the Real Estate and Construction department, have drafted the part on France of the public procurement guide of the site "International Comparative Legal Guide Series". You can access the guide on this link.
Philippe Pescayre and Sophie de Marne took part in a chat organised by the Echos to answer questions raised by internet users on the impact of the real estate capital gain reform.
You may read the report here:
http://www.lesechos.fr/opinions/chats/0201680993514-immobilier-l-impact-de-la-reforme-des-plus-values-230222.phpAlerion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard, Jérôme Werner) advised CDC Entreprises for the strategic investment Fund in the framework of the issuance of convertible bonds which brought € 3M to the group ORMIHL DANET via its holding Inter Ortho. The fund EVOLEM simultaneously brought an additional financing of € 3.5M. This allowed a manufacturer and designer of orthopaedic equipment from Lyon to purchase SOBER during the summer 2011. The group ORMIHL DANET is aiming at a turnover € 50M in 5 years.
Alerion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard, Delphine d’Aspe) advised the manager and founder of the company Infinim in its transfer to the group CIBEX, a property developer and constructor of offices and logistics parks.
Alérion joined the circle of major space players as a member of the Spheris network of the National Center for Space Studies (CNES). Spheris aims at promoting the dissemination of information among its members, training and exchanges on space-related strategic, political, economic, legal, technical and societal issues, from the design and launch of satellites to the exploitation of data (agriculture, communications, mapping, defense, navigation, etc.).
Alérion assisted Bigben Interactive within its alternative takeover bid for 100% of the share capital of ModeLabs Group, currently awaiting the approval of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF). Alérion advised the company on securities law, company law, competition law, financing and tax law issues. The financial figures of both entities combined over a 12-month period show revenues in excess of €320m and current operating income in excess of €29m. Bigben Interactive is the European leader in the manufacturing and distribution of peripherals for video game consoles. ModeLabs Group is the leading designer of mobile phone accessories and distributor of mobile phones. With this deal, Alérion has strengthened its expertise, both in the securities market (GoAdv, Novagali, etc.), as well as in the video game sector.
Deal participants:
- Pierre-Olivier Brouard, Vincent Poirier and Aude Savopoulos: securities law, company law.
- Catherine Robin, Ronan Kervadec: competition law.
- Jérôme Werner: finance law.
- Jérémie Mancel-Cottrel: tax law.
Alérion (Stanislas Vailhen) assisted OCP Finance in obtaining clearance from the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority), issued on April 19, 2011 in the context of a capital increase of three “incubators” making a public offering. The objective was to certify that the investment in the capital of these companies was eligible for the wealth tax deduction provided by §885-0 V bis of the General Tax Code (TEPA scheme) and for the income tax deduction provided by §199 terdecies-0 A of same (Madelin scheme) by issuing the tax opinion attached to the prospectus approved by the AMF. Alérion has thus confirmed its track record for the third consecutive year in providing tax assistance to companies wishing to make a public offering of financial securities that are eligible for a tax deduction (French wealth tax or income tax).
Alérion (Philippe Pescayre) presented the new features of the Finance Act for 2011 and of the Amended Finance Act for 2010 to members of the LEEM (trade organization representing medical product firms) on January 12, 2011. The firm has developed expertise in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector by advising many clients in this sector on all aspects of business law.
After having obtained deductions in 2010, Alérion (Stanislas Vailhen) continued the action it had begun with property dealers back in 2009. It was able to obtain a refund of VAT on the profit margin due to the incompatibility between French and Community law. Its action took the form of a claim permitting to obtain a refund of the VAT on the profit margin on transactions by the property dealers made in 2009 and 2010 (TVA on the profit margin paid in 2009 and 2010), plus late payment interest, as well as the VAT on the profit margin paid on the basis of prior years when the tax reassessments were notified as of January 1st, 2008.
Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard, Vincent Poirier and Delphine d’Aspe) assisted CDC Entreprises on behalf of the Strategic Investment Fund (Fonds stratégique d’investissement or FSI), which injected €4.5m into Lasry. This distributor and processor of flat glass posts annual revenues of €43m.
Alérion sent a delegation of 5 partners (Catherine Robin, Christophe Gerschel, Frédéric Saffroy, Jacques Perotto and Jacques Bouyssou) to the annual conference of the International Bar Association (IBA) held in Vancouver this year between October 4th-8th. This conference allowed the firm to deepen its relationships with fellow attorneys the world over so as to better accompany its clients in their international business activities. During the conference, Alérion organized a joint reception with its Canadian partner Lette (Montreal and Toronto), under the auspices of the French Consul General. Jacques Bouyssou represented the Continental European prospective at a conference about cultural issue in international litigation.
Nelly Darmon, partner in the banking law department, was a speaker on October 7th at a breakfast meeting organized with AFFIC (Association française en faveur de l’institution consulaire). Organized at the Commercial Court of Paris, the topic of this breakfast meeting was “first demand guarantees put to the test of reality”.
Alerion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Antoine Rousseau) assisted the biotech company ART (Arterial Remodeling Technologies) in an €8.5 million round of fund raising with CDC Entreprises, InnoBio, Matignon Investissement et Gestion and Amundi Private Equity Funds.
Alerion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Delphine d’Aspe) assisted Best of Media in a financing round with CDC Entreprises. The Caisse des Dépôts subsidiary contributed, via its OC+ fund, €3 million in convertible notes to the publisher of high-tech websites.
Alerion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard) assisted Edrip (Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners) in disposing of its stake in Idéal Résidences group to LBO France. Following an OBO in 2005, Edrip held 49% of the Greater Paris Area manager of Ehpad (establishments providing homes for dependent elderly people). Idéal Résidences posts annual earnings of €24 million.
The magazine JURISTES_associés has ranked Alerion at the 45th position in its ranking of the top 100 first business law firms in France, size wise, for 2009, with an annual growth of 19,5%. In 2008, Alerion was occupying the 52nd position.
Participating in the Lamy’s Cup, which took place on July 6, 2010, at the Cély-en-Bière Golf and Country Club, Alérion placed second two times in the golf tournament. Vincent Poirier, a lawyer, was on the team, which placed second without a handicap. Christophe Preau, Office Manager, was on the firm’s team, which placed second with a handicap. Eighteen teams competed in a 4-player scramble.
Luneau Technology acquires Briot International. Luneau Technology, a manufacturer of cutting-edge medical optics instruments, financed this acquisition in particular by raising ten million euros in capital, including five million euros in convertible bonds from the Strategic Investment Fund (Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement: “FSI”). Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Vincent Poirier) assisted CDC Entreprises on FSI’s behalf, through its venture capital fund OC+A.
Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Séverine Rizo-Sanchez) assisted Helse Capital with acquiring shares in Gallien, whose business consists in particular of financing purchases of pharmacies. This was the fund’s first development capital transaction.
Alérion (Jacques Bouyssou, Vincent Poirier and Jérôme Werner) assisted Trinity Biotech with the French law aspects of the sale of its coagulation business to Stago International. The transaction also involved Trinity Deutschland and Trinity UK and represented a total amount of 74 million euros.
Nelly Darmon and Frédéric Saffroy have joined Alérion. Nelly Darmon became a partner of the banking and finance law department alongside Dominique Doise, one of the firm’s founding partners. The banking and finance law department now has two partners, three of-counsels and three associates. Frédéric Saffroy joined Catherine Robin’s competition/distribution department. He is accompanied by two associates, Sophie Guerrieri and Ronan Kervadec. The competition/distribution department now has two partners and four associates. Alérion now has 15 partners and 40 associates.
After having assisted Euroland Finance and Cap ISF with creating their holdings in 2009, Alérion (Stanislas Vailhen) assisted the management company Partech Finance and OCP Finance with creating 12 active holding companies and obtained an advanced tax ruling from the Tax Legislation Department, which confirmed the scheme’s eligibility for the Tepa Act’s wealth tax regime. In addition, Alérion drafted the tax opinion which is appended to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers’ (“ASF”: French financial market regulatory authority) authorization (Authorization no. 10.094), which was issued on April 14, 2010.
Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Vincent Poirier) assisted CDC Entreprises (OC+), on behalf of the Strategic Investment Fund), which contributed 3.5 billion euros in a total pool of 12.3 billion euros, in which past investors participated. In particular, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners invested an additional 3 million euros. Biospace Med is an orthopedic medical imaging company formed in 1989.
Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Séverine Rizo Sanchez) assisted Edmond Rothschild Investment Partners (via its Winch Capital 2 fund) and BNP Paribas Développement with their acquisition of shareholding in the holding company Voyageurs du Monde. They respectively acquired 18.3% and 6.7% in the capital of the tour operator’s holding company. This transaction took place simultaneous to the acquisition by Avantage, the controlling holding company of the group Voyageurs du Monde, of more shares of the company, which is listed on Alternext.
Alérion (Jacques Bouyssou, Antoine Rousseau and Aude Savopoulos) assisted Nexeya with its acquisition of 100% of the shares of BM Développement, the controlling holding company of BTS Industrie. This transaction was carried out through a capital increase in kind of 43% of shares and acquisition of 57% of existing shares. BTS Industrie is a company based in Toulouse that designs and produces equipment dedicated to the space and aeronautics industries, with annual revenue of 18.5 million euros. Nexeya designs specialized high-criticality electronics products and it provides services to its clients in five main markets: defense, aerospace, IT/Telecom, industry and automotive. Nexeya is listed on Alternext and has annual revenue of 109.5 million euros.
Alérion has brought in a new IP/IT team so as to broaden its IP service offer to industrial property and information technology. Joël Heslaut (age 47), IP/IT specialist, joined Alérion as a partner. He is bringing with him attorneys Coralie Morineaux and Loullig Bretel. With these arrivals, the Intellectual Property/Media department now counts two partners and three attorneys.
Alérion has also hired Jean-Louis Paturaud (age 55) as Of Counsel in its Banking and Finance Law department. Jean-Louis previously served as the head of the international legal department of Natixis.
Created by Yam Invest fund and by Guillaume Connan (formerly at Matignon Investissement et Gestion fund), Helse Capital is an investment firm operating in the healthcare sector managed by Guillaume Connan. Pierre-Olivier Brouard, Séverine Rizo Sanchez and Delphine d’Aspe from Alérion worked on this deal.
Alérion’ tax team organized a working breakfast on the 2010 Finance Act (“An End to Tax Havens?”). This meeting was intended to provide a panoramic description of future tax reforms, and included talks by Christophe Gerschel, Stanislas Vailhen and Philippe Pescayre, tax partners, and other Alérion tax team members. The discussion specifically focused on the practical ins and outs of the reform of the “taxe professionnelle” (business tax), of the VAT system for property transactions and on tax havens.
Represented by Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Antoine Rousseau, the firm advised the investors during the second round of financing of Adocia, a Lyon start-up specialized in tissue regeneration and in the treatment of chronic diseases. Adocia raised €14m through this second round.
Together with one of its partners, the Canadian law firm Lette, Alérion organized a working breakfast on legal and tax aspects of investments in the pharmaceutical/biotech sector. Julien Le Guyader, legal and tax adviser from LEEM (French research-based pharmaceutical association) and Dany Larochelle, from Investissement Québec, keynoted alongside André Begin from Lette. For its part, Alérion was represented by partners Jacques Bouyssou and Philippe Pescayre.
Alérion (Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Jérôme Werner) assisted the new OC+ fund in raising equity to fund new acquisitions in France. This transaction represents the first investment in convertible bonds by the OC+ fund, which is a new €300m fund created under the aegis of the Fonds stratégique d’investissement (FSI) and CDC Entreprises. Phoebe Ingenica group was created in January 2009 following Ingenica’s acquisition by Phoebe.
October 2009 : Alerion at the IBA Conference in Madrid.
Alerion is organizing a champagne reception at the Real Fábrica de Tapices
Tuesday 6 October 2009 7:30 pm – 11:00 pm.
While in Madrid… Take advantage of weaving techniques that have withstood the test of time and strengthen the bonds of your network.
Discover the prestigious old Spanish Tapestries manufacture and grounds.
Enjoy a personalized visit of its traditional workshop, which will, as a special attraction, be fully operational that night.
Guided tours : 8:30 pm – 10:15 pm
Further information about the Fábrica on
www.realfabricadetapices.com
Why not visit Paris while in Madrid? Enjoy its champagne and a photo exhibit devoted to the City of Light's' rooftops by Reza Ashfar Naderi, taken from ALERION’s offices.
Further information about Reza Ashfar Naderi :
click here

JURISTES ASSOCIES has just ranked Alerion at the 52nd position of corporate law firms in France among the 100 first law firms in size, with a growth of 30.6 %.
EDRIP / NATUREX Alerion (Mr. Pierre-Olivier Brouard and Ms. Séverine Rizo-Sanchez) assisting EDRIP in the framework of its entry into the capital of SGD, a holding of the NATUREX Group, specialized in the manufacturing of natural vegetal extracts and listed on Eurolist C.
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EDRIP) entered into the capital of SGD by subscribing to a capital increase for an amount of €10 million. This subscription intended to guarantee the capital increase on the market initiated by NATUREX and which met a success; more than 88% of the rights have been exercised and the remaining proportionate interest subject to allocation was subscribed for 4.2 times. After the exercise of the extension clause, NATUREX thus received, eventually, €17.3 million in equity, which should allow it to secure its financial structure, resume its organic growth, and finance possible selected transaction for external growth.
Novagali Pharma : Raising of equity of € 15 million (Aug. 08)
Bestofmedia Group / Index Ventures : Raising of equity of € 22.5 million (July 2008)
Sale of the Alturia group , which generated € 20 million in revenue in 2007, to the ACG group, which now has € 35 million in revenue in insurance (July 08)
FH : Fournitures Hospitalières file – Investment in capital development of the Matignon Technologies fund (March 2008)
Neovacs : Raising of equity of € 13 millions (February 08)
Mauna Kea Technologies : Raising of equity of € 30 million (January 08)
Edagora – investment in capital risk (January 08)
Creation of an Intellectual property/Media Departement and arrival of a new partner Asim Singh at its head : A new partner for a tenth department.
Asim Singh joins Alerion, along with associate Thomas Debiesse and assistant Christelle Pigeolet, as a partner and creates the firm's Intellectual Property/media Department.
Specialized in particular in media matters, Asim Singh began his career in Canada before joining the French firm Serra Michaud & Associés and subsequently Baker & Mckenzie. His background and experience strengthen the firm's international dimension.
We are by your side in confronting the crisis: because more than ever, in the face of the crisis, our clients need responsive and tailored counsel and an overall analysis in several legal fields. Alérion has put into place a
Special crisis task force composed of an experienced lawyer in each of the firm’s departments. Each of them has thought through, in his field of specialization, the consequences of the crisis and the questions our clients may ask. Together, they regularly pool their respective experiences together in order to provide ever more efficient service. These lawyers may also be reached at Alérion’s dedicated e-mail :
taskforce@alerionavocats.com.
Task force list :
Corporate Law/Private Equity/Mergers and Acquisitions :
Antoine Rousseau
Real Estate and Construction :
Fahima Gasmi
Industrial Risk and Insurance :
Nathalie Dupuy-Loup
Tax Law :
Jérémie Mancel
Banking and Finance Law :
Jérôme Werner
Collective Procedures and Bankruptcy :
Valérie Mayer
Concurrence distribution :
Edwige Mathieu
Employment Law :
Delphine Ricard
Asian desk :
Christian Kim
Litigation :
Sibylle Mareau Philippe Pescayre, after more than 9 years at Ernst&Young, joined Alérion’s tax department, already headed by Christophe Gerschel and Stanislas Vailhen and which now includes 7 lawyers. An experienced tax specialist, his practice is particularly recognized in real estate, asset and international taxation. Philippe is assisted by his associate, Julien Lebel.
On December 4, 2008, Alérion signed a partnership agreement with the Korean law firm De Ryook-Aju, which was recently merged and is now the 4th largest Korean law firm with 120 lawyers. Alérion will henceforth be its representative in continental Europe and Singapore. De Ryook-gives access to Alérion to its offices as well as those of its correspondents, notably in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Dubai, etc.
Alérion’s Asian Desk, which was already working with De Ryook, thereby consolidates its relations with Korea and Asia.
After the signing of a partnership with the Canadian law firm Lette, this new agreement attests to Alérion’s dynamism and international development. Alérion now has “home ports” in North America and
Asia.
On September 23, 2008, Alérion announced the signing of a partnership agreement with the law firm Lette (“Lette & Associés” in Montreal, “Lette Whittaker” in Toronto) at the party inaugurating its new offices at 137 rue de l’Université, Paris 7th district.
The alliance with the Lette law firm, which has been advising clients composed of some of the largest Canadian and European groups for more than 50 years, as well as a large number of small and mid-sized companies, will provide its clients the fluidity of two firms, their French investments in Canada and Canadian investments in France.
In addition, through this alliance Alérion has been developing its relations with Germany through the partnership that has existed since 2003 between Lette and the Munich law firm Knorr.
On September 23rd, Alérion inaugurated its new offices at 137 rue de l’Université Paris 7th district, in the presence of his Excellency Mr. Il Hwan Cho, the Korean Ambassador, Mr. Charles Beigbeder, the CEO of Poweo and Mrs. Françoise Brillouin, Director of the French-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
This presented an opportunity for the firm to affirm both its international outlook with the announcement of its partnership with the Canadian law group Lette and its entrepreneurial values.
The extraordinary view from the firm’s balconies, as seen in the photographs of Reza Afchar Naderi, impressed all the guests.
On September 2nd, 2008, Alérion put its new website online. Its objective is to reply to all the questions you may be asking yourself about the firm.
Welcome to the new version of
www.alerionavocats.com !
On July 21st, Alérion moved into its new offices at 137 rue de l’Université 75007 Paris. Expanding and moving forward—this is the sign of growing companies.
In 5 years, Alérion has doubled its business and its staff.
Moving forward to expand, in order to best welcome out lawyers and our clients, present, new and future.
Moving forward to take action, at the service of our clients.
Photos by Reza.
Within the framework of its international development, the firm Alérion opened a new liaison office in Singapore on April 30, 2008.
Alérion is setting up in Singapore and providing its clients with its knowledge, know-how and its networks.
“Alérion chose Singapore because this is not only the most active stock exchange in Asia, but also because very few French firms are present here. Furthermore, our Korean network reinforces this choice”, explains Joong-Ho Kim, partner, who heads the Asian Desk of Alérion.
Alérion is unique in Paris in being able to offer an Asian team in the city. Alérion is undoubtedly the only French firm to be able to offer to its Asian clients assistance in French law in their language and their original culture.