Alliance of Gide Forges with the company Elite Africa

The large African company Bowmans has signed a cooperation agreement with the Parisian central Gide Loyrette Nouel.

The non-exclusive merger significantly extends the reach of each business in the main regions of the other.

For Gide, the merger is based on the firm’s existing African presence, which includes three African offices and long experience in French-speaking countries in West and North Africa. Bowmans, meanwhile, has six offices in Africa and complementary strengths in English-speaking countries, according to Richard Harney, Bowmans senior partner in Kenya.

The agreement now offers companies access to regions that were not otherwise accessible to them. Harney said: “Bowmans does not have its own offices in French speaking countries while Gide does not have a presence in English speaking East and Southern Africa due to differences in legal systems and languages.”

He added: “We are working on similar issues for clients around the world and Africa. We are strong independent law firms, well known in our respective jurisdictions.

The merger, said Harney, is a formalization of an existing relationship between the two companies, which he said share common values ​​and a desire to collaborate to increase their coverage in Africa.

“Our firms have worked on numerous joint mandates for leading French and African companies in cross-border M&A projects, finance, energy and in the emerging fields of fintech and e-commerce.

Gide has long been one of the leading law firms in France, with over 550 lawyers, including over 100 partners, while Bowmans is Africa’s third largest law firm in terms of staff, with 388 lawyers. spread across six African countries.

Jean-François Levraud, managing partner of Gide, said the firm has been working with Bowmans on joint assignments for more than a decade.

“We have a long history of successful collaborations which have always benefited our customers,” he said, adding that the cooperation agreement will allow Gide teams to “multiply joint projects with Bowmans and develop a range new customers ”.

Levraud added: “We also see this cooperation as a fantastic opportunity to create an exceptional development environment for the talents of our firm… This next step in our cooperation will allow us to support our clients in their most complex pan-African transactions.

This is good news for Gide, who earlier this year lost a five-person litigation team to Jones Day in Paris.

Levraud said his firm has nearly 100 Africa-focused lawyers, working in its various offices including Paris, London, Brussels, Istanbul and Beijing, while in Africa the firm has offices in Morocco, in Tunisia and Algeria.

“All of our offices provide legal advice and assistance to businesses, public and private sector institutions, investment funds and governments, in a wide range of disciplines. “

Bowmans, meanwhile, has taken an expansive form in recent times, focusing his efforts on his home continent. Last year, the company opened new offices in Malawi and Zambia, adding to its offices in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mauritius and South Africa.