Investing in France is a real opportunity. Secure it before you sign.

Investing in a French business is never only a financial decision. It is a legal one. The protections you take for granted in a U.S. deal do not exist under French law unless someone writes them in for you, and the documents you are asked to sign are usually drafted by the other side. American investors who skip that step pay for it for years.

Before you invest

A structured diagnostic conversation. You walk me through the deal and what you are being asked to sign. I tell you how I read it, where you are exposed, and how I can help. You leave with a clear view of what is really at stake and your first orientations.

Protect your position

Structuring and securing your rights as an investor under French law: governance and board representation, information and audit rights, anti-dilution, entry and exit terms. Whatever your stake, your protection is only as strong as what the documents actually say. Scoped after the diagnostic.

When a dispute arises

Deadlock, attempts to dilute you or push you out, partners competing with the company you funded. Strategy first, litigation when it serves you, argued before French courts, in French, reported back to you in plain English.

Why founders and their U.S. counsel call me

Everything I produce is written in English, grounded in French law, and built to be read by you and your U.S. advisors. I began my career in Silicon Valley and have worked at the crossroads of French and American practice since 2011. You are never lost in translation, legally or otherwise.

Common questions

Do I need a shareholders' agreement to invest in a French company?

Almost always, yes. French law gives investors far fewer default protections than Delaware practice would lead you to expect. In France, your protection is contractual: it exists only if it is written into the statuts or the pacte d’associes before you sign.

What protections does an investor have under French law by default?

Fewer than you might expect. French law leaves most protections to negotiation: governance rights, veto rights, anti-dilution and exit mechanisms exist only if they are written into the statuts or the pacte d’associes before you sign. Whatever the size of your stake, what you secure at signing is what you will hold afterwards.