News | Private Equity

Wednesday 24th January 2001

George Pinkham and Sylvie Vansteenkiste, currently at Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn have agreed to join S J Berwin in order to establish the firm's Paris office. George Pinkham, a private equity funds lawyer, and Sylvie Vansteenkiste, a tax lawyer, are one of the leading buyout/venture capital teams and the leading private equity funds team in France. They will be joined by former team member Jean Goncalves who is currently in-house tax adviser to GE Medical Systems Europe. The establishment of the Paris office of S.J.Berwin follows closely on the heels of the opening of its office in Munich last month. In addition the firm has offices in Frankfurt, Berlin, Brussels and Madrid.

The latest move is an important development towards S J Berwin's strategic goal to be the leading law firm across Europe, specialising in private equity, venture capital, M&A and tax.

Commenting on this latest development, S J Berwin's Senior Partner David Harrel said:

'The establishment of the Paris office is a vital stage in our highly focused expansion in Europe and our aim to be the leading European deals firm. We are delighted that we are being joined by George, Sylvie and Jean who will give us a flying start in the very important French Market.'

Jonathan Blake, the head of private equity said:

'George Pinkham and his team are very well known to our private equity practice in London, Germany and Spain and have worked with them for a very long time. George is undoubtedly the doyen of the private equity market in Paris and his joining us is a major step in our goal of being the leading private equity/venture capital and transactional firm operating in the enterprise economy in Europe.'

'Sylvie, Jean, and I are delighted to be joining S J Berwin. We have known the firm and its private equity team for many years and have worked with them closely on many matters. We look forward to combining our expertise with the outstanding lawyers in Berwin's offices in England, Germany and Spain in order to develop an integrated capability in the private equity and transactional fields across Europe.'