Louis des Cars, Philippe de Saint-Bauzel, and Jean-Guy de Ruffray, whose terms have been renewed, are joined by Fabien Pouchot.

In addition, Frédéric Manin joins ADVANT’s Steering Group, where he will contribute to the firm’s international reach alongside Jean-Nicolas Soret and Gilles Gaillard.

Founded in 2009, ADVANT Altana has established itself over the past fifteen years as one of the leading independent law firms in Paris, with nearly 100 attorneys, including 28 partners. As a founding member of ADVANT alongside ADVANT Beiten (Germany) and ADVANT Nctm (Italy), the firm offers integrated services across all areas of business law and maintains an international presence through the ADVANT network, which comprises more than 750 professionals across 15 offices.

The renewal of these two bodies reflects the firm’s strength and cohesion and is part of the growth momentum initiated in recent years: team expansion, the rise of ADVANT, the creation of an Advisory Board, and the continuous strengthening of sector-specific expertise.

The Executive Committee would like to acknowledge the commitment of all the firm’s teams, whose professionalism and daily dedication fuel the firm’s growth and reputation. This wealth of human talent—where emerging talents and seasoned practitioners, as well as French and international cultures, come together—forms the foundation upon which ADVANT Altana is building its future.

Representing a variety of economic sectors (manufacturing, new technologies, and services), the four independent external members of the Advisory Board will bring their experience and vision to ADVANT Altana.

It is composed of:

• Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems
• Hélène Etzi, President, The Walt Disney Company France
• Augustin de Romanet, Honorary Chairman of Aéroports de Paris, Advisor to the Executive Management at Eight Advisory
• Laurent Solly, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Advanced Machine Intelligence

This Advisory Board embodies the firm’s commitment to surrounding itself with dedicated leaders who will help it anticipate change, seize new opportunities, and pursue an ambitious path.

“This Advisory Board embodies our commitment to opening ourselves even further to the business world and its challenges. These leaders will help us anticipate change, seize new opportunities, and continue building a firm that combines legal excellence with a deep understanding of economic realities,” says Valérie Lafarge Sarkozy, partner at ADVANT Altana.

“With this initiative, ADVANT Altana reaffirms its commitment to positioning itself as a strategic and innovative partner for its clients and to continuing the growth momentum it has maintained since its inception,” adds Pierre-Marie Ouchet, partner at ADVANT Altana.

Finassur has a very strong presence in the North of France, an economically strategic region for Marsh. 

Marsh, a Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC) company, is the #1 insurance broker and risk advisor worldwide, advising clients in 130 countries through four companies: Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman. With annual revenues of more than $24 billion and more than 90,000 employees, Marsh McLennan helps clients build confidence to succeed through the power of perspective.

This acquisition will enable Finassur’s clients and employees to benefit from Marsh McLennan's global capabilities, solutions, and expertise in the areas of insurance, risk management, and strategy consulting expertise to help them achieve their growth and development goals.

This transaction is an illustration of ADVANT Altana’s ability to manage complex cross-border transactions for US clients investing in Europe and requiring the involvement of numerous areas of the law. 

This European regulation mainly contains provisions aimed at encouraging the circulation of data (personal or otherwise) generated by Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Another section of the Regulation introduces new obligations for cloud service providers (SaaS, PaaS and IaaS).

The Data Act aims to simplify and secure the transition to a data processing service provider or on-site ICT infrastructure.
From that date onwards, contracts concluded by providers of these services (including terms and conditions) must comply with this text.

Under the Data Act, cloud service providers (including SaaS software publishers) must remove all 'pre-commercial, commercial, technical, contractual and organisational barriers that hinder customers' from their contracts, in order to facilitate termination, change of provider or data transfer.

The customer's rights and the provider's obligations in the event of termination of the contract must be clearly stated in writing.
Specific clauses must detail the steps the provider will take to organise and facilitate the customer's exit strategy, ensure the security and integrity of their data, and guarantee its transfer to a new provider or internally within the defined notice period.

The Data Act also provides for the phasing out of supplier switching fees.

From 12 January 2027 onwards, suppliers will no longer be permitted to charge their customers for the switching process (transitional provisions are planned until this date).

Penalties: Each Member State must establish a system of 'effective, proportionate and dissuasive' penalties for non-compliance and designate a national supervisory authority.

Note: the SREN law of 21 May 2024 in France anticipated this issue and already provides provisions governing the costs of switching providers and data transfers. ARCEP has been designated as the supervisory authority responsible for enforcing the SREN law provisions.

Questions about the Data Act and its implications? Our IP/IT lawyers are at your disposal.

ADVANT Altana once again advised Sopra Steria Group on this acquisition with a multidisciplinary team coordinated by Bruno Nogueiro (Corporate M&A partner) with Arthur Boutemy and Victoire Denis Madelin on corporate aspects, Jean Guy de Ruffray, partner, and Clémence Aladjidi on IP/IT and data aspects, as well as Marie Hindré, partner, and Delphine Laget on competition, contracts and distribution.

ADVANT Altana also coordinated issues specific to Aurexia's foreign subsidiaries with the assistance of its correspondents: Howse Williams (Hong Kong), RHTLaw Asia LLP (Singapore), Miller Thomson LLP (Canada) and Fox Williams LLP (UK).