Franklin advised Akao, a leading French provider of solutions for the digitisation and automation of financial flows, on its merger with Sage, a global leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll management solutions for SMEs and mid-market companies.
This transaction comes at a time of major market transformation, marked by the introduction of electronic invoicing reforms scheduled for September 2026. It enables Sage to enhance its invoicing cycle digitisation offering and allows Akao to accelerate the deployment of its SaaS solution to a broader range of companies.
Akao is a long-standing Sage partner that supports over 2,700 SME and mid-market clients, processing more than 100,000 invoices daily. Its solution covers the entire invoicing lifecycle, from receiving supplier invoices to issuing customer invoices, and enables companies to improve the performance, compliance, and traceability of their financial processes.
Abdel Halitim, Founder and CEO of Akao, said: ‘This transaction is the natural outcome of a long-term strategic partnership with Sage. It will enable us to accelerate innovation and support even more companies in their transition to electronic invoicing.’
He adds: ‘This highly strategic transaction required a very high level of expertise, and the Franklin team, led by Antoine Denis-Bertin, was instrumental in its success. Beyond their highly technical advice, the adaptability of all the Franklin team members made it possible to maintain the subtle balance between the parties’ high standards and the enthusiasm that characterised the relationship between Akao and Sage throughout the process.’
Franklin worked alongside Akao, alongside a team composed of Antoine Denis-Bertin (Partner), Antoine Fouassier (Of Counsel) and Louis Santelli (Associate) for M&A aspects; Jacques Mestoudjian (Partner) and Rudy Marouani (Of Counsel) for tax aspects; and Hind Jalal (Associate) for labour law aspects.
Akao was also advised by Largillière Finance (Nathanaël Blanc and Guillaume Ségonne).
Sage was assisted by Deloitte for due diligence (Thomas Fischer and Ignacio Inoa) and tax matters (Augustin Delacou and Edouard Hulot), as well as by
A&O Shearman for M&A matters (Anne-Caroline Payelle, Antoine Messent, Yasmine Benhmida, Clémence d’Almeida, Thomas Feigean, Laurie-Anne Ancenys and Dalila Korchane).
