Pascal Favre

Pascal Favre is the Managing Partner of CMS Geneva and head of the Corporate/M&A and Competition practice groups in Geneva.

Pascal regularly advises corporate clients in all types of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions. He routinely assists with Swissd and international joint ventures, corporate restructurings and divestitures and corporate relocations. He also counsels clients on general corporate law and contract matters. In addition, Pascal has extensive experience in acquisition finance, corporate lending, project finance, crowdfunding and collective investment schemes, with a special emphasis on those involving real estate.

Pascal also specializes in Swiss competition and distribution law matters. He routinely advises international corporate clients active in the retail and distribution of major brands products in a variety of industries. Pascal has developed solid experience in notifications on concentrations and merger control proceedings involving Swiss or foreign companies operating in Switzerland. He frequently handles the competition law aspects of domestic or cross-border M&A transactions. He also provides representation in antitrust investigations and administrative proceedings by the Swiss Competition Commission, and defense in antitrust appeal proceedings brought before the courts.

Clients across a variety of sectors particularly value Pascal’s ability to couple his knowledge of contract law with his expertise in competition law matters, and to deliver comprehensive and tailored solutions to the complex issues affecting their businesses.

Pascal Favre is on the Best Lawyers’ list for Corporate Law in Switzerland; he is ranked by Chambers & Partners and by IFLR 1000; and is also recognized as a leading Corporate / M&A advisor by Leaders’ League.

Pascal is the author of numerous publications in his areas of practice, and is a frequent lecturer at universities and in the fields of contract and competition laws.

Relevant experience

• A global leader in rental and management of industrial wagons and containers based in Geneva in the context of a demerger and capex financing transactions.
• The leading worldwide brewer with respect to distribution partnership agreements and export contracts.
• A global leader in security inks for banknotes and value documents, on several corporate, refinancing and M&A issues.
• The world’s largest manufacturer and maintainer of people moving products based in the US, in the context of the restructuring of its European entities as well as M&A transactions in Switzerland.
• A leading French publisher in connection with an alleged ban on parallel imports in the sector of French-language books.
• A global leader in content production and distribution based in France on a concentration involving the sale of its distribution entities in Switzerland.
• A global leader in finance protection and private-equity on a concentration in the travel agency services sector.

Education

• 2005 – Docteur en droit, University of Fribourg, Switzerland (summa cum laude, obtained three awards: Peter Jäggi Stiftung, Walther Hug Stiftung and Joseph Vigener)
• 2004 – Bar Admission (Geneva, Switzerland) (ranked 1st)

Memberships

• Swiss Bar Association (Schweizerischer Anwaltsverband/Fédération Suisse des Avocats) (SAV/FSA)
• Geneva Bar Association
• Association Suisse du Droit de la Concurrence / Swiss Association of Competition Law (ASAS)
• Schweizerischer Juristenverein / Société Suisse des Juristes