Johnson, Wesley R. Jr.

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Languages

• English
• French

Lawyer Overview

Wesley Johnson's practice focuses primarily on European cross-border mergers and acquisitions, in a wide variety of business sectors. He is Partner-in-Charge in Paris.

Major client representations have included chemical group Rhodia in dispositions and restructurings involving French and overseas assets; La Poste Française, including acquisition of the DPD parcel network in Germany; Rossi family interests in connection with the sale of Martini & Rossi to Bacardi; France Telecom/Orange with its acquisitions of Spanish mobile operator Amena and network services provider Equant; Thales in dispositions of the Magellan GPS business and of its stake in Embrear; Canadian paper group Cascades in a business combination with Reno de Medici; OM Group in connection with the "revisitation" of mining concessions initiated by the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Russian private equity firm OPK and Sergei Pugachev in the acquisition of French luxury food group Hédiard, French newspaper France Soir, and U.S. biotech company Biopure. Other clients include China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation, Compass Group, Crown Packaging, Eutelsat, Parker Hannifin, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Sinochem, Total, and WL Ross.

Wesley is cited yearly as among the best corporate/M&A lawyers in France in the guides Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, PLC Which lawyer?, and The Legal 500 EMEA. He is a co-founding member of "Continuing Legal Education Europe," a London-based nonprofit CLE organization. He has lectured extensively on M&A and corporate governance topics, including for the Conference Board Directors' Institute. He is president of the Société Sportive du Jeu de Paume et de Racquets, the Paris real tennis club.

Areas of Practice

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Energy
• M&A
• Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
• Energy Transactions

Representative Cases

• Aventis S.A. creates spin-off of Aventis' bone disease unit
• Aventis S.A. sells household insecticides business to Sumitomo Chemical
• Cascades merges with Reno De Medici for $101 million , (2009)
• Diebold acquires Getronics and Groupe Bull
• Ernst & Young International sells management consulting business to Cap Gemini Group for $11.7 billion
• France Télécom acquires Amena for $7.7 billion , (2009)
• France Télécom restructures interest in MobilCom , (2009)
• France Télécom S.A. acquires Equant for $6.4 billion , (2009)
• France Télécom S.A. acquires Equant for $715 million
• La Poste Française acquires Frankfurter Kreis' stake in Deutscher Paket Dienst
• La Poste Française acquires Parceline and Interlink Express
• La Poste Française develops strategic alliance with Federal Express
• La Poste Française develops strategic alliance with Sweden's Posten AB
• Parker Hannifin sells Wynn's Industrie
• Rhodia forms joint venture, Latexia, with Raisio Chemicals
• Rhodia sells Albright & Wilson to Hunstman Corp.
• Rhodia sells Thann & Mulhouse to Millenium Chemicals
• Rhodia sells worldwide silicones business to China National Bluestar
• Thales sells consumer navigation business to Shah Capital-led investor group , (2009)
• The Deutsch Group completes sale to WENDEL Investissement , (2009)
• Total acquires Elf Aquitaine for $55 billion , (2009)
• WL Ross forms joint venture with Philippe Nguyen

West Practice Categories

Business Organizations, Business Successions, Closely Held Businesses, Corporate Governance, Directors' & Officers' Liability, Dissolution, Formation & Business Planning, Franchising, Joint Ventures, Limited Liability Companies, Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Non-profit & Tax-exempt Organizations, Partnerships, Reorganizations, Shareholders' Rights, Trade Associations

Bar Admissions

• California
• Paris, France

Education

• Cambridge Univ - England
• Harvard University
• U of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Address

2, rue Saint- Florentin
75001 Paris, France

Phones

33.1.56.59.39.39 (Business Phone)

Faxes

33.1.56.59.39.38 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com