Home / News / CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre is taking part in the...

CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre is taking part in the organisation of IM SQUARE, the first European investment and development platform for asset management

19/06/2015

The former director of Edmond de Rothschild AM, Philippe Couvrecelle, has just announced the finalisation of the IM SQUARE investment platform whose founding stakeholders are Amundi, Eurazeo, Cogepa and La Maison.

The purpose of IM SQUARE is to invest in medium-sized asset management firms (from USD 1 bn to 15 bn in assets under management) with strong potential for growth.

IM SQUARE is destined to invest in US firms at first, before expanding to European and Asian markets.

Jérôme Sutour, Partner, and Damien Luqué, senior associate at CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre, in charge of regulatory issues/investment funds, and Romain Pichot, partner in law at Cazals Manzo Pichot, in charge of tax affairs, have all contributed to organising the IM SQUARE platform. The cornerstone of the project resides in its originality. Indeed, it is like a hybrid vehicle in that it will be rolled out in two phases over time.

In an initial phase the platform will be like a holding company governed by French law where shareholders can actively participate in selecting and investing in asset management firms.

In a second phase, IM SQUARE will become "other AIF" as defined by article L. 214-24 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and will be run by a management firm based in London that will employ around ten people by the end of 2016.

Jérôme Sutour has stated: "We are very pleased and proud of supporting Philippe Couvrecelle and the various shareholders in IM SQUARE in this innovative project. This type of organisation shows how flexible French regulations are and how they can adapt to new alternative fund structures and the needs of actors in private equity and asset management."

At Kemp Little, Lucy Frew, partner in law, helped with British regulatory aspects and Mayer Brown dealt with manager incentive related questions (with Benjamin Homo and Christopher Lalloz, partners in law).


For more information, please contact:

Related people

Portrait ofJérôme Sutour
Jérôme Sutour
Partner
Paris