Our expertise
Areas of intervention
Corporate law, M&A
We assist our clients in setting up business on the African continent. As such, our team helps them choose the most appropriate corporate form for their projects, negotiates and drafts corporate documents, formalises the creation of companies, branches and representative agencies, and carries out modifications of share capital. The team also assists clients with the organisation of board meetings and general meetings.
Together with our partners, we are regularly involved in mergers and, above all, acquisitions, particularly with regard to legal due diligence, drafting of transaction documentation, assistance with signing, lifting of conditions precedent and completion of any formalities.
Projects development
Our team is regularly involved in large, complex projects. To this end, we assist our clients in the frame of the procedures relating to public procurement and public-private partnerships, as well as in obtaining licenses, permits and other administrative authorisations. We are also involved in negotiating and drafting project documentation such as public-private partnerships, concessions, production sharing and power purchase agreements, as well as EPC and O&M contracts etc.
Our team also helps clients to understand foreign exchange regulations, in particular the conditions for opening a foreign exchange account, repatriating funds, opening offshore accounts, declaring foreign loans, etc.
Projects financing
Our team regularly assists local and international arrangers, lenders and borrowers with large-scale project financing transactions.
In this respect, the team is regularly involved in all phases of project finance transactions, including the drafting of term sheet, the issuance of due diligence report, the drafting or review of financing documentation including bilateral or syndicated credit agreements, security interests, the deed of appointment of the security agent as well as any inter-creditor agreements. The team also supports clients in signing documentation, completing formalities and lifting conditions precedent.
Bond issues
The members of our team work closely with international law firms, assisting issuers with bond issues.
In this respect, we participate in the drafting or review of base prospectus and supplements, the review of contractual documentation such as bond subscription agreement, dealer agreement and agency agreements. Our involvement in bond issues also extends to issuing legal opinions and carrying out various legal mandates on behalf of the issuer.
International arbitration
With our partner, a boutique dedicated to both commercial and investment arbitration, we assist our clients at every stage of the arbitration process.
Our team works at an early stage to assess the chances of success of a potential arbitration. We represent and assist our clients in the drafting of the arbitration request, the drafting of the various memoranda, the pleadings before the arbitral tribunal and the management of the various procedural incidents. Our involvement also extends to the enforcement phase of arbitral awards, and to proceedings for obtaining exequatur and annulment of awards.
Compliance and personal data
We assist our clients in the creation and implementation of compliance programs (anti-corruption, international sanctions, the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, etc.). We adopt an operational approach, taking into account the local and international legal context, in order to encourage the spread of a real compliance culture.
To this end, we assist our clients in identifying, analysing, assessing and managing risks (particularly criminal and ethical) in order to limit the financial, reputational and legal repercussions they may incur in the event of non-compliance with the applicable legal provisions.
Lastly, we also support our clients to manage their personal data (data mapping, analysis, regularisation, procedure, review of contracts, establishment of clausiers and registers, declaration, etc.).
Industries
Natural resources
Natural resources
The African continent has a rich soil and subsoil. Our team is involved in all phases of a mining project, from prospecting to exploitation (obtaining rights, licenses, mining permits, negotiating and drafting of various mining contracts such as concession agreements and mining conventions).
Energy
Energy
Universal access to energy is a prerequisite for achieving the goal of industrialisation, which is a decisive phase in the development of the African continent. Our team assists its clients at every stage of the implementation of an energy project (negotiation and drafting of concession, power purchase, construction and maintenance contracts, etc.).
Telecommunications and new technologies
Telecommunications and new technologies
The digital revolution is contributing to the development of the African continent. We assist clients with the negotiation and drafting of contracts specific to the telecommunications sector (network equipment contracts, interconnection contracts, roaming contracts, electronic payment solutions, etc.).
Infrastructures
Infrastructures
Africa’s attractiveness to investors depends on the provision of high-quality infrastructure. Our team assists clients in the contract award procedures, negotiation and drafting of construction, operation and maintenance contracts for various types of infrastructure, including ports, airports, roads and social facilities.
Oil & Gas
Oil & Gas
The discovery of new commercially exploitable oil wells attracts a tremendous number of new investors. The firm’s practice covers both upstream and downstream activities. In this respect, our team is involved in the study of petroleum regulations, the negotiation and drafting of petroleum contracts (concession, service, production sharing and underlying contracts) as well as in the field of sales of petroleum and petrochemical products.
Agriculture
Agriculture
The agricultural sector is experiencing strong growth, driven by the determination of African governments to promote it. Our team is able to provide innovative legal solutions tailored to agribusiness, in particular to issues related to the production, transformation and commercialisation of agricultural products.