PARIS, France – April 4, 2016 – Goodwin Procter, a leading Am Law 50 and Global 50 law firm, announced today that a top-ranked team of French private equity and M&A lawyers will extend the firm’s international practice into Paris, France. Partners Maxence Bloch, Christophe Digoy, Jérôme Jouhanneaud and Thomas Maitrejean will open Goodwin Paris following completion of their notice periods.
“Goodwin’s clients are increasingly globally focused as capital today flows around the world much more freely than ever before,” said David Hashmall, Chairman of Goodwin Procter. “And as the world gets smaller, having a best-in-class French private equity platform that complements our strong offering in the U.S., the U.K. and Asia is essential for meeting our clients’ evolving dealmaking needs. We’ve found the right team for this platform in Max, Christophe, Jérôme and Thomas and we are thrilled to welcome them into the Goodwin partnership.”
Added Hashmall: “While we are initially focused on building our French private equity and M&A platform, we see in Paris attractive future opportunities that align with Goodwin’s other focus areas, including technology, life sciences, real estate and more.”
“Goodwin’s expansion into France affords great synergies across our existing client base and with this team’s roster of clients,” said John LeClaire, Co-founder of Goodwin’s Private Equity Practice. “More importantly, these four partners share a vision and approach – most notably a focus on private equity, in particular the middle market and growth equity – that align perfectly with ours and that propel our momentum in all markets. We have ambitious goals and we look forward to pursuing them together with Max, Christophe, Jérôme and Thomas, who are widely-recognized as leaders in the dealmaking space.”
Bloch, Digoy, Jouhanneaud and Maitrejean will join from King & Wood Mallesons’ Paris office. The team, which has been recognized as one of the leading private equity and M&A practices in France, specializes in M&A, specifically leveraged buyouts, private equity and public-to-private transactions for French and foreign private equity funds.
Goodwin’s private equity platform first expanded outside of the U.S. with the opening in 2008 of a Hong Kong office under the leadership of office chair Yash Rana. In 2015, partners Richard Lever and Simon Fulbrook launched Goodwin’s European private equity offering in the firm’s London office. Led by chair David Evans, Goodwin London has grown to nearly 40 lawyers and recently signed a lease to double its space when it moves to a new location at 100 Cheapside, EC2 next year. Last January, the Private Equity Practice established an initial foothold in Germany.
Goodwin’s Private Equity Practice is focused primarily in the middle market. The firm’s deep market knowledge and industry relationships help its clients secure deals and build equity value across a broad range of sectors, including technology, healthcare, and financial and consumer services.
Goodwin Procter LLP is a leading Am Law 50 and Global 50 law firm, with offices across the United States and in Europe and Asia. Excelling at complex transactional work and high-stakes litigation, the firm combines in-depth legal knowledge with practical business experience to help clients maximize opportunities and manage risk. With more than 900 lawyers, Goodwin offers innovative counsel and delivers results through a client-centric and collaborative approach. The firm focuses on matters involving financial institutions, intellectual property, private equity, real estate capital markets, securities litigation/white collar defense, and technology/life sciences. Information may be found at www.goodwinprocter.com. Follow us on Twitter @goodwinprocter.