Goodwin, a leading Global 50 law firm, announced today the continued expansion of its Private Equity and Private Investment Funds practice with the addition of partners Marie-Laure Bruneel and Arnaud David, resident in the firm’s Paris office.
“The skills and talent of Marie-Laure and Arnaud, who are both well-known in the market, allow us to offer a complete range of services and cover all the needs of our clients, including investment banks and managers,” said Maxence Bloch, Chair of Goodwin’s Paris office. "Their arrival is a significant step in our strategy of becoming an industry leader in the private equity, infrastructure and real estate investment spaces, not only in the United States, but also in Europe and Asia."
Bruneel, who joins Goodwin from De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, specializes in corporate taxation, including the tax aspects of structuring and financing mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, real estate investments and restructurings, and has significant experience with alternative asset investments. Her client work has included representing industry leaders such as Eurazéo PME, Siparex and Crédit Agricole Immobilier.
David, one of the industry’s foremost investment fund practitioners, joins Goodwin with a team of lawyers: Sarah Michel, senior lawyer, and Xavier Couderc-Frani, junior lawyer. The team, formerly with the Paris office of King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”), has extensive experience with a wide range of funds – including buyout, mezzanine, infrastructure and debt – incentive schemes and co-investment agreements. It also has particular expertise with infrastructure funds and its representation in this area has included work for clients such as InfraVia and Antin Infrastructure Partners.
These developments at Goodwin Paris follow significant expansion of the firm’s London office. Yesterday, Goodwin announced that partners Michael Halford, Ed Hall, Laura Charkin, Shawn D’Aguiar, Patrick Deasy, and Ajay Pathak, as well as 15 associates and five trainees have joined Goodwin London from KWM.
Goodwin’s Paris office opened in July 2016, with Maxence Bloch, Christophe Digoy, Jérôme Jouhanneaud, Thomas Maitrejean and William Robert as partners, along with counsel and associates. The team specializes in mergers and acquisitions, in particular LBOs, private equity and “public to private” transactions for private placement funds, both French and international.
They were joined in October 2016 by a market-leading acquisition and corporate finance team, led by Arnaud Fromion and Frédéric Guilloux.
These new arrivals bring to 10 the number of partners and to 40 the number of lawyers at Goodwin’s Paris office.
About Marie-Laure Bruneel
A lawyer with the Paris Bar since 2001, Bruneel holds a degree in International Taxation from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (1999), and is also a graduate of HEC (1999). She previously worked for law firms Andersen Legal (2000-2001) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (2001-2005), before joining De Pardieu Brocas Maffei, where she worked for nearly 12 years, including six as a partner.
About Arnaud David
David holds an LL.M. from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall School of Law) and a postgraduate degree in Business Law from the University of Paris II - Panthéon Assas. A lawyer with the Paris Bar since 1997, David began his career at Gide before taking part in the creation of SJ Berwin in 2001, a firm in which he quickly became a partner. He is a member of the AFIC legal committee, where he participates in numerous studies on the legislation and regulation of risk capital. He is also recognized by Chambers & Partners Europe as a leading individual in the field of private equity funds and is classified in Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal Private Funds.