LPA-CGR is pleased to announce the arrival of Raphaële François-Poncet as a partner in the Dubai office 

LPA-CGR is pleased to announce the arrival of Raphaële François-Poncet as a partner in the Dubai office

LPA-CGR avocats continues to deploy its international development by welcoming Raphaële François-Poncet as joint-managing partner of the Dubai office (open in 2016) alongside Nigel Hartridge. Her arrival is in line with the firm’s ambitious policy of strengthening its international activities, LPA-CGR being the leading French law firm established in Middle East.

Dubai is indeed a strategic place for LPA-CGR. The firm has a strong presence in the United Arab Emirates, but its team also works closely with the firm’s Asian and African offices.

With a strong expertise in international transactions and banking regulation, Raphaële François-Poncet will enable the firm to accelerate these synergies. In particular, she will focus on developing mergers & acquisitions between the Gulf and Singapore in order to meet the strong demand from players in these two regions. She will thus be able to work directly with the teams of LPA-CGR lawyers based in Singapore and China.

Raphaële François-Poncet assists major international and French groups as well as sovereign wealth funds in their mergers & acquisitions or joint ventures, particularly in the health and defence sectors. She has also developed expertise in supporting start-ups in the Middle East. Finally, she benefits from strong expertise in cross-border capital market transactions.

Before joining LPA-CGR, Raphaële François-Poncet was in charge of the French public M&A and securities law practice of Baker & Mc Kenzie. She has developed strong expertise in banking regulation, with international banking groups, on compliance issues, particularly in terms of compliance with European regulations.

Nigel Hartridge, Partner at the Dubai office, comments: „We are delighted with the arrival of Raphaële François-Poncet, who brings together the necessaryskills to offer to our French, local and international clients high value-added expertise in the Middle East Region and beyond, whose economic growth is undeniably expanding rapidly. Her arrival will contribute to the development of our offer of services to investors, among others, whom we support”.

With the arrival of Raphaële François-Poncet, the Dubai office of LPA-CGR avocats now brings together seven lawyers with an indepth knowledge of the local economic environment.