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Feb 2, 2023

3 new promotions at LAMARTINE CONSEIL: 1 partner and 2 counsels

Appointments

LAMARTINE CONSEIL is continuing its internal promotion strategy by appointing Perrine SAUZAY as partner and Ugo AUDOUARD and Marie-Alice LAFONTAINE as counsels, thereby consolidating its “Companies and transfers” and “Insolvency” practices. 

Perrine SAUZAY has a Master II degree in Fundamental Private Law (Paris-Sud University) and joined LAMARTINE CONSEIL in 2013. Over the years, she has developed expertise in corporate law and more specifically in business transfers in the “Small cap” segment, notably by advising financial investors, managers and groups on LBOs or the acquisition of majority or minority stakes in companies, as well as on M&A transactions.

Perrine is involved in transactions covering all sectors of activity, and here are a few examples that were completed in 2022:

  • Advising CAPITAL EXPORT in connection with the primary LBO of the ACFRI Group;
  • Advising managers on the MBO of the EUROP NET Group;
  • Advising the SFP DÉVELOPPEMENT Group on 5 external growth transactions;
  • Advising the ECO CLEAN Group (ECOFIN) on 4 acquisitions.

Holder of a Master II degree / D.J.C.E. (corporate legal expert diploma) obtained at the University of Toulouse and a certificate of specialised studies (CES) in taxation, Ugo AUDOUARD joined LAMARTINE CONSEIL in September 2014 after working in France at EY société d’avocats and MARVELL Avocats, in Luxembourg (LUTHER Law firm) and in the United States (HAMEL Law firm).
Working alongside Stéphane RODRIGUEZ and Cédric SAPÈDE in Lyon, over the years he has developed expertise in business transfers, restructuring groups of companies, assisting managers and advising investors on acquiring stakes in companies or on LBO or growth capital transactions.
He is heavily involved in cross-border transactions, in particular assisting French companies with their international growth plans and advising foreign companies and investors looking to set up in France or invest in French companies. With a particular focus on the industrial sector, here are a few of the transactions he managed in 2022:

  • Assisting INITIATIVE & FINANCE and ELIGE GESTION in the sale of their stake in ORIGIN GROUP;
  • Advising NAXICAP PARTNERS on the sale of its stake in the PISONI Group;
  • Assisting the BLANCHON Group in its acquisition of the Dutch group RIGO B.V.

Marie-Alice LAFONTAINE has a Master II degree in Business Law and an MBA from Paris 2 University, as well as an LLB from the University of Sheffield. She joined Lionel HANACHOWICZ’s team in Lyon in 2016 and since then has been working as counsel and litigator in all matters relating to insolvency (SMEs, mid-sized companies) on behalf of debtors (preventive and insolvency proceedings) as well as purchasers or creditors (banks and investment funds). She joined LAMARTINE CONSEIL in November 2019 at the time of the merger with the former AXTEN team.

Some of the transactions she was involved in during 2022:

  • The takeover of ALVANCE WHEELS by EDS and its director;
  • Assisting TECALEMIT AEROSPACE with the reinvestment of TIKEHAU ACE CAPITAL;
  • Advising GRDF in defending its interests in the OUI ENERGY safeguard plan, the first case with affected parties classes in France;
  • And several other preventive cases in the automotive, aeronautics and construction sectors.

The promotion of Ugo AUDOUARD and Marie-Alice LAFONTAINE as counsels coincides with the expansion of the Lyon office (6 partners, 28 lawyers in all), particularly in corporate and insolvency law, around a team that now has to be structured.

With these promotions, the leading M&A and private equity transactions law firm in the Smid Cap category (218 deals finalised in 2022) now has 21 partners, 3 counsels and around 100 consultants in Paris, Lyon, Aix-Marseille and Bordeaux.