Lawyers

Olivier de Vilmorin is partner in the Firm’s Paris office and head of the Firm’s European M&A practice. A member of the Paris and New York bars, he frequently advises both French and international clients on a wide variety of prominent mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and capital markets transactions.

Olivier is regularly recognized as a leading M&A and Capital Markets lawyer in Chambers Global and Chambers Europe, where clients praise his “great mix of sharp legal expertise, great business sense and full dedication to his clients”. He is also a Leading Individual in Legal 500 (M&A, France) and is a recipient of The American Lawyer's Transatlantic Corporate Dealmaker (UK and Europe) award. The Paris M&A team also won the “Trophée d’Or” for “M&A Large Cap” at the 2022 Trophées du Droit.

Olivier has authored several articles and is regularly cited as an M&A expert. He was the Rapporteur for the special report “Paris: Frontline Financial Centre for SPACS”, published by a special committee of Le Club des Juristes, France’s premier legal think tank. The French Stock Exchange Authority (AMF) has invited Olivier to join its consultative Commission on Disclosures and Corporate Finance as one of the few M&A and capital markets law experts.

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

Mergers & Acquisitions (including Private Equity)

• LionTree on its statutory preferred equity investment in Contentsquare S.A.S..
• Kering on (i) its acquisition, with Kering Eyewear, of Maui Jim, Inc.; (ii) investment in Vestiaire Collective alongside Tiger Global Management and (iii) sale of its sports and lifestyle brand Volcom to Authentic Brands Group
• BNP Paribas on its sale of Bank of the West, its U.S. retail and commercial banking business, to BMO Financial Group for a base price of $16.3 billion in cash
• Pershing Square on its $4 billion acquisition from Vivendi of 10% of the outstanding Universal Music Group shares
• Experimental Group on its creation of a real estate joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management in connection with Brookfield’s €350 million investment in Experimental Group
• The Adecco Group on its acquisition of a (majority) stake of Akka Technologies from the Ricci family and Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille (CNP)
• Taiwan Cement Corporation in its €132 million acquisition of 60.48% stake in Engie Eps and the mandatory tender offer for all the outstanding issued share capital of Engie Eps
• Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, on its $60 billion 50/50 merger with Peugeot, creating the combined company Stellantis N.V., the world’s fourth largest automaker by volume
• Tiffany & Co on its $16 billion acquisition by LVMH Moët Hennessy
• EssilorLuxottica in its definitive agreement to acquire 76.72% interest in GrandVision from HAL Optical Investments for €5.5 billion

Capital Markets

• The underwriters to ICAPE on its initial public offering on Euronext Growth in Paris
• Delta Air Lines in connection with Air France-KLM S.A.’s €2.3 billion capital increase with preferential subscription rights
• the underwriters of EDF’s (i) €3.1 billion 2022 rights issue, (ii) €4 billion 2017 rights issue and (iii) €7.5 billion privatization, considered one of the largest IPOs ever in France
• Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) in connection with the €140 million rights issue of its subsidiary NHOA
• the underwriters of Rallye’s €195.4 million global tender offer on its unsecured debt. This was an unprecedented transaction in France, as Rallye was in safeguard proceeding.
• Pershing Square on Universal Music Group's US$52 billion IPO on Euronext Amsterdam.
• Stellantis in its listing in France, Italy and the United States with a total market value of €39.2 billion
• EDF on (i) its €2.4 billion inaugural convertible green bond, (ii) its $4.75 billion bonds issuance, (iii) the sale of its interest in Veolia Environnement for €262.1 million, (iv) several 144A bond offerings and (v) the €339 million initial public offering by EDF Energies Nouvelles
• Elis on its €325 million rights offering (Regulation S), on its €750 million initial public offering and on its €800 million high-yield senior note offering (Rule 144A and Regulation S)
• Eurazeo on (i) the management of its shareholding in Europcar in connection with the $307 million financing of the company during COVID-19, (ii) the sale of its shares in Elis, Moncler, Accor, Europcar and Edenred via accelerated book building transactions
• TDF Infrastructure on its (i) €800 million secondary bonds offering and (ii) inaugural €600 million bond offering
• Hellman & Friedman on the disposal of its stake in Gaztransport & Technigaz
• Alcatel Lucent on its €1 billion dual offering of bonds