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.

Engie has acquired Vol-V Biomasse, the French leader in biomethane present on the entire value chain: origination, development, construction oversight and exploitation.

Altana’s teams advised Engie on the transaction in its entirety:

• with a team led by Jean-Nicolas Soret, Partner, and Géraldine Malfait, on M&A and transactional aspects,
• with a team led by Louis des Cars, Partner, Cécile Panien-Ferouelle and Sharmila Joseph, on public law and urban planning issues,

With this acquisition, Engie becomes the leading producer of biomethane in France, one of the essential building blocks of the future energy mix, and confirms its position as the leader in renewable energy.

The financial aspects of the transaction remain confidential.

• Contracts and business relationships to which English law could apply need to be identified.

The content of English law will be affected by the disappearance of the direct applicability of, in particular, the European regulations that apply without national transposition. The content of the law applicable to contracts could therefore be significantly amended.

• Identify the contracts likely to be affected by a potential economic imbalance

Existing contracts therefore need to be examined to know if they contain a hardship clause. Contracts currently under negotiation that will be signed from 1 October 2016 on (the effective date of the Order on contract law reform) need to be negotiated taking into account the new provisions of French contract law regarding unforeseeability.

Future financial dealings between British companies and companies from European Union Member States risk, at the very least, being subject to customs duties and an exchange rate much more instable than those of today.

• Activities in regulated sectors need to be identified

Some of these activities are only possible, in fact, due to the existence of a “European passport” or an authorization or approval issued under European law and must also be identified. The end of the validity of such passports / authorizations / approvals could render the exercise of the activity in question impossible or necessitate the request of specific authorizations.

Marie Davy and Guillaume Forbin