Press Release
French Book on Mergers and Acquisitions Explores Cultural, Technical Issues
Duane Morris Author Yves Quintin to Speak in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, October 10 - A French-American corporate lawyer has authored a book in French on mergers and acquisitions in the United States. Yves Quintin, a member of the bar in the U.S. and France and a partner with international law firm Duane Morris LLP, will discuss his book and ideas at a talk and reception jointly hosted by the firm and by the Philadelphia Chapter of the French-American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, October 20. Osagie Imasogie, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International House of Philadelphia and Senior Managing Partner of Phoenix IP Ventures, will introduce the book.
The event, at The Racquet Club of Philadelphia at 215 South 16th Street, is open to the business community and the press.
"France and Canada are among the top five direct foreign investors in the U.S.," Quintin says, "but in my experience there was no book that provided French-speaking investors with both a cultural and a technical understanding of the business and legal issues that arise in M&A deals in the U.S. While many foreign investors have been very successful in the U.S., there have also been quite a few M&A casualties.
"The French government itself took a major financial hit in 2004/2005 because of U.S. acquisitions made by a then state-owned bank, Crédit Lyonnais," Quintin says. "My ambition is to give businesspeople and lawyers from French-speaking countries the tools to ask the right questions when they bet millions or billions of dollars on a U.S. acquisition."
"Yves is offering an immeasurably valuable tool for the French business audience," said Sheldon M. Bonovitz," Chairman of Duane Morris. "We are proud of his accomplishment and his prominence, all the more enhanced by the publication of his work."
Les Fusions-Acquisitions aux USA or Mergers and Acquisitions in the United States is jointly published by Les Editions Bruylant in Belgium and France and Les Editions Yvon Blais (a Thomson company) in Québec. The book came out in France on September 20, and is being well received in business and legal circles around the French-speaking world. Quintin, a French native who is based in Duane Morris' Philadelphia office, is on a speaking tour in France, Belgium and Québec, and in French business communities around the United States.
Quintin says that, despite the size and strength of some of the French and Francophone businesses he has served and worked with, the intricacies of the U.S. legal system, and the challenges posed by it, still constitute an obstacle to many transactions.
"The colors of the French and American flags may be identical, and 'football' may be played in both countries," Quintin says, "but the games, and the rules, are different. The financial stakes in the U.S. are much higher and this is driven, to a large extent, by the legal system and, more fundamentally, by different social systems. The book is an effort to shed light on risks that are not always well understood by foreign investors, while simultaneously providing them with a roadmap to carry out a successful acquisition."
Quintin practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, contracts, project finance and international transactions. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (LL.M.), the University of Paris-IX-Dauphine ("ABD" in economics), the University of Paris-V (LL.B.), l'École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (M.B.A.) and Lycée Louis Le Grand (Paris). He lectures on business law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
For information about the program or to interview Quintin, please contact Joshua Peck.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the United States, is a full-service firm of over 550 lawyers. In addition, Duane Morris affiliates have over 50 professionals engaged in ancillary service businesses. The firm represents clients across the nation and around the world through a combination of 16 offices and a relationship with an international network of independent law firms.
