CMS Francis Lefebvre advises the Primonial Group on Crystal’s bid for Primonial Ingénierie & Développement (PID).
CMS Francis Lefebvre has advised the Primonial Group in its negotiations with Crystal – a French wealth and asset management firm with over €8bn in assets under advisement and turnover in excess of €110m – regarding the latter’s bid for Primonial Ingénierie & Développement (PID) – a major French player in independent asset management, operating under the Primonial banner. The acquisition should be finalized by the end of Q2 2024.
Crystal’s bid concerns all B2C and B2B2C Distribution activities (€13bn in assets under advisement), as well as the structured product brokerage business (DS Investment Solutions) and head office and support services. The new group, led by Crystal, will encompass the Laplace, Zenith-IS and Primonial brands and represent a total of €21bn in assets under management, inflows in excess of €5bn and turnover of more than €280m. It will employ more than 900 people throughout metropolitan and overseas France but also in other countries – Crystal having provided wealth and asset management services to non-residents since its foundation in 1992.
The final agreements must be submitted to the Primonial Group’s staff representative bodies for consultation and/or information before they can be signed, and the French competition authority’s green light is also required. But if all goes well, the deal should be closed by the end of Q2 2024.
The CMS Francis Lefebvre team that advised the Primonial Group comprised: Renaud Grob (partner) and Sandy Boverie (associate) on tax aspects and Thierry Romand (partner) and Lucile Duscha (associate) on labour law aspects. For other legal aspects, the Primonial Group was advised by the firms of Gide Loyrette Nouel (Caroline Lan, Valentin Lefebvre) and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier (Pierre Casanova, Orphée Grosjean).
