In the four years since Numa Rengot joined the firm, the Restructuring practice has attracted and recruited new talent, growing from two to nine lawyers. The team now consists of three partners (Numa Rengot, Arnaud Pédron and Laura Bavoux) and six associates (Pierre Dupuys, Fanny Attal, Margaux Chaumien, Marouan Fawzi, Yann Aubert and Corentin Lavat).
Against a backdrop of rising corporate insolvencies (+23% in 2024 according to Altarès), the team is currently working on around ten amicable proceedings in the retail, food, real estate, construction, security, media, tech and healthcare sectors, as well as on major investor buyouts.
In recent months, the Franklin team has excelled in complex transactions such as
- The assigned class continuation plan which enabled the century-old Mordacq printing company and its 80 employees in the Hauts-de-France region to continue their business with the support of their creditors;The acquisition of the Run Market retail chain and its 620 jobs in Réunion by the Mauritian group IBL. The team worked closely with the Interministerial Committee for Industrial Restructuring (CIRI);
- Negotiations between the Republic of Congo and the airline Corsair, resulting in a strategic partnership for Corsair’s development in West Africa and the opening of a Paris-Brazzaville route.
More recently, the team has also advised:
- The consortium of buyers Groupe Diffusion Plus, Paragon Western Europe and Riccobono Group in its attempt to rescue Milee (formerly Adrexo) in order to save 2,000 jobs;
- The Valco Group, which specialises in the manufacture of customised industrial valves for sensitive sectors such as the nuclear industry, in connection with its takeover by the German industrial group Schuf;
- Capital Hospitality Europe on its acquisition of the Naos hotel group.
“The arrival of Yann Aubert and Corentin Lavat not only illustrates the growth of our restructuring team, which is an important department at Franklin, but also the firm’s commitment to recruiting and developing young talent. These appointments also enable us to respond to the increasing number and complexity of situations we are asked to handle in order to help distressed companies and their shareholders,” said Numa Rengot, Co-Managing Partner in charge of the Restructuring – Distressed M&A department.
