Bertrand DUSSERT

Bertrand DUSSERT has been a lawyer at the Paris bar since 1989.

Bertrand focuses his activity on the French and international tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, as well as private equity and financing transactions. He also devotes part of his practice to supporting resident or non-resident individuals on various French and foreign tax issues.

Bertrand began his career at CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats in 1988 before moving to the Netherlands from 1991 to 1994 for the same firm, of which he became a partner in 1997. He then founded the tax department of Norton Rose (2001 – now Norton Rose Fulbright), then created his own niche tax practice in 2007. He joined the North American firm K&L Gates LLP in 2012 to create the tax practice there. At the end of 2019, he left K&L Gates LLP with a dozen lawyers specializing in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and financing transactions to set up the Parisian tax practice of the North American firm Winston & Strawn LLP.

Bertrand is fluent in French and English and is a member of the Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux (“IACF”), the main organization representing lawyers specializing in tax law in France.

Rankings

• Legal 500 EMEA 2019 – Band 4

« Bertrand Dussert of K&L Gates LLP advises financial institutions, investment funds, international companies and individuals regarding the tax treatment of various domestic or international issues. He is particularly involved in mergers and acquisitions, as well as private equity and financing transactions. He advised VTG Aktiengesellschaft on the purchase of CIT Rail Holdings (Europe) SAS and Nacco, as well as ABN AMRO Investment Solutions on the transfer of its direct internal management activities to Candriam. Finally, he assists his clients during tax audits. »

• Legal 500 EMEA 2018 – Band 4

« Bertrand Dussert of K&L Gates LLP provides « very professional and accurate services. » The two lawyers’ tax team is regularly involved in mergers and acquisitions and recently advised Sanofi Pasteur MSD on its spin-off from Merck in the field of vaccines. The firm also assists its clients with tax disputes and issues related to wealth tax. Ipsos is one of its clients. »

• Décideurs Stratégie Finance Droit 2021
  • Transactional taxation – « Excellent »
  • LBO taxation – « Excellent »
  • Real estate taxation – « Renowned practice »

Track record

• Advising Evergreen SA, a green investment company, in connection with its IPO via the absorption of its majority shareholder Evergreen SAS, with a view to creating the first listed investment vehicle in France dedicated to the  cological transition and reduction of the carbon footprint.
• Advising Weitz Group Limited on the sale of its shares in ZG Holdings Limited to Laboratoire Filorga, the joint venture with Filorga allowing the distribution of Filorga products in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.
• Advising Ardian Private Equity in connection with the acquisition from The Carlyle Group, alongside MCH, of a majority stake in Palacios Alimentation.
• Advising VTG Aktiengesellschaft, one of the European leaders in freight and rail logistics, in connection with the acquisition of CIT Rail Holdings (Europe) SAS and of Nacco Group from CIT Group Inc. for a consideration of € 780,000,000.
• Advising ABN AMRO Investment Solutions on the transfer to CANDRIAM of its direct investment management business. The agreement provided for the transfer of approximately € 8,000,000,000 of assets under management in the form of institutional mandates and dedicated funds as well as French open-ended funds.
• Assisting the Normandy Memorial Trust, chaired by Peter Ricketts, former British Ambassador to France, regarding the acquisition of land and construction of a Memorial overlooking Gold Beach to honor the memory of the 21,000 British soldiers who died in Normandy on D-Day. Bertrand’s team adivised in particular on the treatment of VAT relating to construction costs.
• Advising the founders and managers of Artemis Courtage, a French mortgage brokerage specialist, in their OBO transaction with RAISE Investissement.
• Advising Riverside Europe Partners and the CEO of HRA Pharma on the sale of HRA Pharma to Astorg Partners and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division.
• Advising the managers of Eyesight Group on the acquisition of a stake by BNP Paribas Développement in the capital of Eyesight Group.
• Advising a family office in connection with the sale of the head office of the listed group Hermès located in a central business district of Paris (prime real estate asset) to CNP Assurances represented by DTZ Investors France.
• Advising Kai Yuan Holdings Limited, an investment holding company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in connection with the acquisition of the  remises and business assets of the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées hotel.
• Advising Microsoft US on its acquisition of Capptain  S.A.S., a French company developing CRM solutions and applications for mobile devices.
• Advising Marathon Asset Management, an international credit manager, on the acquisition of a € 280,000,000 commercial real estate loan portfolio in Continental Europe from Lloyds Banking Group. Known as “Project Aberdonia”, the transaction involved a portfolio secured by 82 properties, primarily in France and Germany.
• Advising 3D Systems Europe Ltd, a subsidiary of 3D Systems Corporation and a major global supplier of 3D printing technology, in connection with the acquisition of a controlling stake of 81% of Phenix Systems. Phenix Systems (listed on the NYSE Alternext market) designs and
  manufactures 3D printers.
• Advising the private equity branch of the French financial institution Natixis (formerly Natexis Banques Populaires) on the tax structuring of its international venture capital operations.
• Advising a leading Franco-Spanish real estate group on the tax structuring aspects of a € 50,000,000 real estate project on the Normandy coast.
• Advising Ciments Français (Italcementi Group – now Heidelberg Cement) and the Libaud Group in connection with a € 25,000,000 Spanish tax lease relating to the acquisition of a dredger vessel.
• Advising French Railways SNCF on the tax aspects relating to the largest cross-border QTE (Qualified Technological Equipment) financing ever made for an amount of US $ 1,200,000,000 (“Socrate” software).
• Advising French listed group Ipsos in connection with the stting up of Ipsos Partners, a management company gathering around 150 of the main executives of Ipsos around the world.
• Advising Canadian listed group Boralex Inc. in connection with the acquisition of a 200 MW portfolio of wind projects located in France and Scotland, as well as the acquisition of approximately 8,500 hectares of land where the projects are developed.
• Advising Sanofi Pasteur MSD in connection with the  demerger of Sanofi and Merck in the field of vaccines.
• Advising FactSet, a global provider of integrated financial information, analytical applications and services, on its acquisition of BISAM Technologies SA (“BISAM”), a leading performance and attribution provider portfolio, multi-asset risk, management and composite GIPS reporting, from Aquiline Capital Partners and its management.