McDermott Will & Schulte is advising Sagard, a global alternative asset manager, on the combination of its private equity platform with Unigestion, a European private equity firm focused on the middle market.

The transaction aims to create a global leader in middle market private equity.

Following the closing of the transaction, Sagard will have approximately US$44 billion in assets under management.

Unigestion’s non-private equity activities are excluded from the transaction, and Sagard’s other private equity activities based in Paris and Canada will continue to be managed independently.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2026, subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities.

The cross-border teams at McDermott Will & Schulte involved in the transaction were composed of:

In Paris

Corporate

• Grégoire Andrieux, Partner
• Côme Wirz, Counsel
• Henri Nalbandyan, Associate
• Fayçal Laraki, Associate

Regulatory & compliance

• Nicolette Kost de Sevres, Partner
• Stavroula Nikolaidou, Associate
• Inès Lamarti, Juriste

Regulatory

• Guillaume Panuel, Partner
• Romain Souchon, Associate

Employment

• Jilali Maazouz, Partner
• Abdel Abdellah, Counsel
• Naré Arshakyan, Associate

In the United States

• Smith Alpert, Partner
• Allison Bernbach, Partner
• Yuxin Jin, Associate
• William Barbera, Partner
• Alexa Sakni, Law Clerk

In the United Kingdom

• Eleanor West, Partner
• Nikita Panchal, Associate
• Raees Khan, Associate

In Germany

• Dr. Felix Ganzer, Partner
• Renate Prinz, Partner
• Dr. Cornelius Hille, Associate

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