Philippe Desprès

Mr. Desprès regularly provides advice to many international and domestic companies on a wide range of issues, including matters related to restructuring operations conducted in France (often related to site closures and redundancy plans), collective negotiations, works council consultations (notably in the context of M&A transactions) and employment-related litigation.

He has represented clients in a variety of industries, including chemicals, cosmetics, entertainment, finance, luxury goods, metallurgy, packaging and pharmaceuticals, including:

• 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;
• Acofi and its founding directors in connection with its merger with Sienna Investment Managers, a subsidiary of Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert;
• Purolite Corporation in its $3.7 billion acquisition by Ecolab Inc.;
• Iliad, a listed telecom group and parent company of French telecom company Free, in connection with the acquisition of a 75% stake in Jaguar Network, a leading developer of technologies for the cloud, telecom and smart cities markets in France;
• GBT Travel Services UK Limited (d/b/a American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT)) in its acquisition of Egencia Europe SAS from Expedia Group, Inc. As part of the transaction, Expedia will become a shareholder in Amex GBT;
• Coty Inc. in its strategic partnership with KKR & Co. Inc., including the carve-out sale of 60% of its professional beauty and retail hair businesses to KKR with an enterprise value of $4.3 billion;
• Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. in its $1.4 billion sale of zColo to Databank; and
• F.I.L.A. (Fabbrica Italiana Lapis e Affini S.p.A.) in connection with its $49 million acquisition of the fine arts business operated by the AhlstromMunksjö Group under the ARCHES brand.

Mr. Desprès has repeatedly been named in The Best Lawyers in France and recommended as a leading individual by Chambers Europe, in which clients have praised him as an attorney who is “always available” and someone who “fully understands [clients’] challenges.”

He is a member of the International Bar Association and the European Employment Lawyers Association.