Our fi rm assisted Groupe Rocher on the acquisition of the Romanian and Czech retailers of SABON luxury cosmetic products throughout all steps of the transaction: legal due diligence, drafting and negotiating the acquisition documents, obtaining the regulatory and antitrust clearances and closing. The SABON transaction was not our first M&A mandate for Groupe Rocher in Romania, as we have advised them before on the
acquisition of Cosmetique de France in 2016.

The final negotiations and closing of this transaction that involved four different jurisdictions (Romania, France, Israel and the Czech Republic) were carried out during the first days of the COVID-19 lockdown in unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances. We had to adapt to the new realities very fast and managed to provide our clients with the tools and services that allowed them to successfully close this transaction.

In 2020, the M&A market has started with high hopes with Q1 witnessing a larger number of transactions signed by reference to the same time period in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has postponed or even cancelled deals that had not reached closing by the end of March 2020.

The market has picked up in late June and the timeline and chances for these new deals to go through largely depend on the impact of the second wave of the pandemic. We are moderately optimistic about the perspectives of the M&A activity in Romania based also on the expectation that there will be new investments in the country linked to the EU plan for the economy’s recovery.

About Leroy și Asociații

Leroy și Asociații is one of the most prestigious law firms in Romania that has been providing legal assistance and representation services in all areas of business law for over 22 years.

Currently an independent law firm, until February 2014 it operated as the local office of the French law firm Gide. The firm has a team of more than 20 lawyers with first rate legal skills and leading market knowledge, which gained national and international recognition due to its contribution on some of the most significant investments and transactions in Romania. The firm provides its client – multinationals, SMEs and international institutions – with the full range of services to meet their specific legal needs and to facilitate smooth interaction with the Romanian authorities and other stakeholders.