Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier advised BPCE on the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the acquisition of novobanco

16 June 2025

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier advised BPCE, France’s second-largest bank and Europe’s fourth-largest bank, on the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the acquisition of novobanco, Portugal’s fourth-largest bank.

This transaction is the largest cross-border banking acquisition in the eurozone in over 10 years and marks a key milestone in the execution of BPCE’s “Vision 2030” strategic plan, which focuses on the group’s development and diversification in France, Europe and internationally.

The Darrois team was composed of Bertrand Cardi, Forrest Alogna, Laurent Gautier (partners), Paul Bertrand, Florian Benard, Youssef Driouich, Michinari Matsumoto and Alexis de Mailly Nesle for corporate and M&A aspects, Vincent Agulhon (partner) and Bryan Costa for tax aspects, Guillaume Aubron (partner), Amel Krideche and Emma Jubault for competition law aspects, and Henri Savoie (partner) and Guillaume Griffart (counsel) for regulatory aspects.

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier was lead counsel on the matter, alongside Macfarlanes for English law aspects and CS’Associados for Portuguese law aspects.