Arash Attar-Rezvani

Mr. Attar-Rezvani has been selected as one of 10 Rising Stars of the Paris bar by Décideurs Juridique and has since been recognized by Chambers for Corporate/M&A High-end Capability, as well as in The Best Lawyers in France and IFLR1000.

Mr. Attar-Rezvani’s representative experience includes:

Telecoms, Media and Technologies

• Xavier Niel, a French billionaire investor, through Iliad Group, his European telco, and NJJ Holding, his investment fund, in connection with: the acquisition of a stake in Swedish telecom operator Tele2, representing approximately 20% of its capital and 29% of its voting rights, from Kinnevik AB, its historic anchor shareholder; a minority investment in Vodafone Group PLC; a minority investment in Millicom International Cellular SA; the acquisition of enterprise provider Jaguar Network; Radio Access Network sharing joint ventures with WindTre in Italy and with Digicel Group in the French Caribbean; a consortium acquisition of Tigo Senegal; and several other M&A matters relating to fiber and internet access, and home automation
• Criteo S.A., an adtech company based in Paris and listed on Nasdaq that provides the world’s leading Commerce Media Platform, in connection with its acquisition of shares and assets of the IPONWEB group
• Silver Lake Partners, a global leader in technology investing, in connection with its acquisition of Silae, a French cloud-based payroll software provider, as well as its buyout of MeilleurTaux, a leading financial services provider, from Goldman Sachs PIA, and in several related matters
• Nokia in its combination with Alcatel-Lucent through a public exchange offer in France and the United States
• Axian Group, a pan-African infrastrucure and services conglomerate, in numerous acquisitions of, or investments in, telecom operators (in French Reunion and Mayotte, Senegal, Togo, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar), financial services and renewable energy projects (solar and photovoltaic, mini-grid, hydro-electric, among others)
• Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. in its sale of U.S. and European data center assets to Data-Bank Holdings (IJGlobal Deal of the Year)
• Capgemini in numerous transactions, including its acquisition of iGATE through a U.S. merger; aspects of its acquisition of Altran Technologies; its acquisition of Groupe Euriware from French nuclear company Areva; and several M&A transactions and strategic partnerships in Europe and emerging markets, including Brazil
• Magnum Photos, a photo agency founded by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, in connection with the first outside investment in the agency in its 70-year history
• The French Republic and Société Générale in connection with France Telecom’s tender offer for Wanadoo
• Talend in its acquisition of Restlet, a cloud-based API design and testing platform
• Gateway in connection with its acquisition of Packard Bell and simultaneous acquisition by Acer

Luxury and Retail

• L’Occitane International, a global luxury cosmetics group based in Europe and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in connection with its acquisitions of luxury home fragrance brand Dr. Vranjes Firenze; 83% of Sol de Janeiro Holdings, Inc.; and ELEMIS, as well as various other matters
• LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.E. in connection with its acquisition of Tiffany & Co.
• Alexandre Vauthier, a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter designer, in connection with several corporate matters
• two investors in connection with their acquisition of a combined 80% interest in Italy-based, animal product-free outerwear company Save the Duck
• Polo Ralph Lauren in connection with the development of its sale and distribution network in Europe
• Kering in connection with the sale of French furniture retailer Conforama to Steinhoff International
• Coty Inc. in its strategic partnership with KKR, including the carveout sale of 60% of its professional beauty and retail hair businesses to KKR. This transaction was named Private Equity Deal of the Year for the Americas by IFLR at its 2021 Americas Awards
• Yves Rocher in connection with its repurchase of Sanofi’s 19.3% stake in the Yves Rocher Group
• Quiksilver in connection with its tender offer for Skis Rossignol and its subsequent sale of the Skis Rossignol and Roger Cleveland Golf businesses

Industrials and FIG

• Technip Energies on the creation of a joint venture with John Cockerill in the field of green hydrogen
• Pfizer Inc. in its $95 million investment in Valneva S.E., a French biotech company listed on Euronext and Nasdaq, in connection with the update of the parties’ Collaboration and License Agreement. Pfizer’s investment represents 8.1% of Valneva’s share capital
• Mercedes-Benz in its investment in European battery cell manufacturer Automotive Cells Company alongside founding joint venture partners Stellantis and TotalEnergies, with an objective to reach capacity of at least 120 GW hours in Europe by 2030 for an investment volume of more than €7 billion
• Renault in the proposed (but withdrawn) 50/50 merger transaction with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
• SCOR in its successful defense against an unsolicited takeover proposal from COVEA
• Air France and KLM in the largest transatlantic joint venture in civil aviation history, involving Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines
• WABCO Holdings Inc., a global provider of advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies, in its acquisition by ZF Friedrichshafen AG
• Stryker in its acquisition of Vexim, a medical technology company, through a public tender offer followed by a squeeze-out
• Sanofi and Merck in their proposed divestment of animal health assets in connection with an aborted joint venture

Mr. Attar-Rezvani also has significant experience in international capital markets transactions and privatizations, including those of Air France, France Telecom (now Orange) and Autoroutes du Sud de la France, as well as IPOs, dual listings and/or debt offerings.

He regularly speaks, lectures and publishes on issues related to international business transactions and negotiations.

Mr. Attar-Rezvani chairs the Paris office’s Diversity Committee. Publications