Business Law

Our expertise covers:

• Support for our clients in the context of debt restructuring operations and financing of companies in difficulty: upstream of bankruptcy proceedings for advisory missions (renegotiation plan, restructuring of bank loans or bonds granted to companies or in the framework of open procedures);
• Accompanying stakeholders in bilateral or syndicated financing operations: banks and institutions as agents, arrangers or lenders; public entities, governments and African States in the implementation of their projects in the infrastructure and transport sector;
• Assisting stakeholders in the negotiation and drafting of all financing documentation (mandates, term sheets, credit agreements, security documents, subordination agreements, etc.);
• Acquisition financing (advising lenders, investment funds or mezzanine lenders);
• Asset financing: in the sectors of telecommunications, information technology, cultural industries (publishing, press, audiovisual), energy and in the maritime and aeronautical sectors;
• Real estate financing: our team represents French or foreign banks in the financing of residential or commercial real estate (hotels, offices, etc.);
• Bank liability on contractual and delictual grounds;
• Guarantee litigation

Our firm has proven expertise in restructuring and insolvency proceedings. HBE Lawyers:

• Assists the creditors of a company in difficulty in their debt declaration procedure until payment of the latter;
• Assists economic operators concerned by insolvent company (debtors, creditors, shareholders, managers, financial institutions, etc.) in the processing and implementation of insolvency procedures (alert, safeguard, reorganisation procedure or compulsory liquidation);
• Intervenes both in prevention (ad hoc mandate - conciliation) as well as in the support of extensive restructuring measures (safeguard - reorganisation - judicial liquidation);
• Intervenes with legal representatives in the event of procedural difficulties or in the search for responsibility;
• Accompanies candidate purchasers of the assets of companies that have been the subject of collective proceedings.

Our firm is therefore able to set up various procedures depending on the difficulties encountered by the company:

• Preventive procedures: our experienced lawyers in this area can advise on setting up a preventive procedure (ad hoc mandate or conciliation procedure) in order to deal with the problems encountered;
• Safeguard procedure: if your business experiences critical economic and financial difficulties, a safeguard procedure can be put in place to settle your liabilities and maintain your activity;

If, however, your company was in a state of insolvency and could no longer meet the payable liabilities with its available assets, our firm remains at your disposal in order to offer you appropriate solutions:

• Receivership procedure: your company could be placed in receivership if it appears that the difficulties encountered are surmountable;
• Judicial liquidation procedure/winding-up: the implementation of this procedure leads to the dissolution of the company for extinction of liabilities or insufficiency of assets.

HBE AVOCATS also practices in all areas of business criminal law, both in consultancy and litigation:

• Supporting the interests of legal entities and/or their directors, both in defence and in civil proceedings (establishment of delegations of powers and responsibilities, management of crisis situations, coaching of managers for their hearings, interrogations or depositions, and communication strategies).
• Corporate criminal law: theft, breach of trust, extortion, fraud against the president, slanderous denunciation, forgery
• Financial criminal law: abuse of company assets, misappropriation of public funds, accounting offenses
• Criminal labour law: concealed work, obstruction, harassment, health and safety, homicide and involuntary injuries;
• Corruption: active and passive bribery, illegal traffic of interest, favouritism, ill-gotten goods

HBE Avocats intervenes in the context of:

• Corporate operations: creation of companies, capital increase or reduction, issue of complex securities, merger, demerger, etc. Drafting and negotiation of shareholders' agreements and asset and liability guarantees;
• M&A transactions: LBO, company buyouts, equity investments, drafting of offers, acquisition audits, setting up of negotiations and drafting of pacts to ensure the liquidity of holdings, asset and liability guarantees
• Disposals and transfers of assets, partial contribution of assets and transfer of universality or funds;
• Litigation: asset and liability guarantees; disputes between shareholders.

HBE Avocats assists its clients (economic operators, traders, players in the distribution sector, etc.) in the day-to-day management of their commercial relations with their partners both in France and abroad, in order to guarantee them legal security while respecting their economic imperatives.

• Elaboration of commercial policies, development of commercial documentation, implementation of the legal instruments necessary for the development of its clients' activities;
• Management of commercial relations;
• Negotiation and drafting of business contracts (general terms and conditions of sale, general terms and conditions of purchase, partnership agreements, distribution agreements, franchise agreements, confidentiality agreements, letters of intent, payment terms);
• Negotiation, drafting and review of international contracts and international partnerships:
  
  • Consideration of the interests of the clients and taking into account the various laws involved;
  • Indication of the precautions to be taken when drafting an international contract (jurisdiction clause, applicable law, dispute settlement clause);
• Commercial leases (negotiation, conclusion, fixing of rent in renewal, eviction);
• Acquisition and sale of business assets;
• Management of commercial litigation:
  
  • Assessment of the company’s legal, economic and commercial environment and determination of its rights and obligations;
  • Assessment of litigation risks and prevention of litigation;
  • Accompanying and assistance measures within the framework of technical expertise
  • Representation in legal proceedings and in commercial disputes.

HBE Avocats intervenes in international debt collection taking into account:

• Commercial and legal specificities of each country;
• Legislative provisions and customs making it possible to determine the most suitable procedure