News | Private Equity

Thursday 8th November 2001

SJ Berwin has recruited a Paris-based lawyer to build the private equity and venture capital practice at the heart of the recently opened Paris office of SJ Berwin.

Pierre-Louis Perin joins from the Paris office of Deloitte & Touche Juridique et Fiscal, the French arm of the global accountancy and consultancy firm. SJ Berwin is continuing in its stated aim to develop its deals capability throughout Europe with this latest recruitment, which further develops the capability of its Paris office. In addition to Paris, the firm now has offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Munich.

Pierre-Louis is a lawyer specialising in private equity and venture capital, capital investment, M&A and corporate law. He will be joining the other partners of SJ Berwin's Paris office, namely George Pinkham, Sylvie Vansteenkiste, Jean Goncalves and Mark Richardson.

Partner George Pinkham commented: "The arrival of Pierre-Louis strengthens the service we can offer in Paris to our corporate clients, particularly in our core areas of private equity and corporate funds and transactions. Pierre is exactly the kind of bright, energetic young French lawyer who we would like at the heart of this office and I look forward to welcoming him to the team."

Pierre-Louis Perin said: "SJ Berwin is very clear about what it wants to achieve in this market and across Europe. That single-minded focus and the opportunity to work with a very high calibre private equity team makes this an opportunity I look forward to."

SJ Berwin's Senior Partner David Harrel added: "SJ Berwin's vision of itself as a European deals firm is proving very attractive to bright lawyers of the calibre of Pierre-Louis and we welcome him to our growing corporate team."

• Pierre-Louis Perin is 41 years old, married with two children. Since October 2000, he has been a partner at Deloitte & Touche Juridique et Fiscal, supervising a team of private equity specialists.
• Prior to that, for three and three quarter years he was an avocat at French firm Giroux Buhagiar & AssociŽs (through their merger with Stibbe), following two years in-house at Compagnie UAP, three years as assistant to the general Counsel at Thomson SA's electronic systems division and three and three quarter years in-house at PSA Peugeot Citroen.
• Educated at University of Paris II and University of Paris X and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, his studies included a course at Yale Law School in America. His published work includes a book and several articles on the French SociŽtŽ par Actions SimplifiŽes (SAS), capital investment and stock options plans.
• Founded in 1982 in London, SJ Berwin is a leading European law firm with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Munich and Paris.
• Awards won by SJ Berwin include: 'Private Equity Law Firm of the Year' - European Venture Capital Journal 2001, 'Competition Team of the Year' - Legal Business Awards 2001, 'Law Firm of the Year' - The Lawyer Awards 2000, 'Property Team of the Year' - The Lawyer Awards 2000.