Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier has recruited a four-partner M&A team in Paris from rival Gide Loyrette Nouel in a marquee hire for the leading French independent.
The group is led by Olivier Diaz, who was previously Darrois’ co-managing partner during a stint at the firm between 2000 and 2014. Diaz – recognised as one of the leading M&A lawyers in the French market – is joined by Frédéric Mion, Charles de Reals and Corentin Charlès.
Darrois said the hires have come at a time when it is experiencing particularly strong demand from clients for transactions and litigation advice in France and internationally.
The incoming team represents a significant expansion of its M&A practice, which currently houses 14 partners according to the firm’s website.
The practice earns top billing in legal rankings guides for its work handling high-profile M&A, including advising blue-chip corporate clients on inbound and outbound transactions in the automotive, banking and TMT sectors. Last year, lawyers from the team advised Kering on the €4bn sale of its beauty business to L’Oréal.
Diaz brings more than 35 years of experience and a practice that covers the spectrum of corporate transactions, with a focus on public and private acquisitions, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts and corporate restructurings.
Over the course of his career, he has advised on a number of landmark deals in the French market, including Sanofi’s takeover of Aventis in 2004 and the acquisition of Club Med by China’s Fosun International in 2015. He left Darrois to join Skadden at the start of 2015 as the New York firm moved to develop its core practices in Europe before joining Gide in 2018.
Mion has spent the past three years at Gide, where he was a partner in the public law team. His practice focuses on the law of regulated sectors, with a specialisation in the media, electronic communications and digital sectors, as well as advising management.
He was a member of the Conseil d’Etat – the French supreme court for administrative law matters – from 1996 to 2024 and held a variety of judicial and senior civil service positions, including as adviser to Minister of Education Jack Lang.
Meanwhile, de Reals brings a broad M&A practice covering public takeovers and private equity. He also has expertise in corporate governance and securities regulation. Charlès, who made partner at Gide earlier this year, advises on corporate law, securities regulation and M&A.
The team’s hire follows Darrois hiring partner Astrid Zourli from Hogan Lovells earlier this month, as it moved to rebuild its restructuring practice after losing an eight-lawyer team to Linklaters last summer. Last December, it also added Brice Bohuon, who previously served as group general secretary of EDF, France’s state-owned electricity utility, to its public law team.
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