International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Solvay on its proposed Euro 3.4 billion acquisition of chemicals company Rhodia.

The offer, which remains subject to anti-trust and other regulatory approvals and a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one share, will be open in France and extended to the US.

An integrated Franco-Belgian team comprising lawyers from the Freshfields’ corporate and competition practices advised Solvay.

Led by corporate partners Antoine Vignial and Alan Mason and Yannick Piette (counsel), the Paris team consisted of associates Cyril Deniaud, Gabriel Flandin, Guillemette Burgala, Romain Garçon and Lee Neumann (all corporate). Finance associate Philippe Goutay also advised on regulatory issues.

Brussels corporate partner Geert Verhoeven led the Brussels corporate team that advised Solvay on the Belgian law related matters of the transaction.

The competition team managed out of Brussels was led by co-head of Freshfields’ competition practice John Davies, partner Laurent Garzaniti and partner-elect Rafique Bachour. Competition associates were Jan Blockx, Mairi McMartin and Eric Jasper. The team in Brussels is working closely with teams in Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo and Washington, DC.

The Solvay team was led by the company’s Group General Counsel Dominique Dussard with Associate General Counsels Kathleen Dierckx and Otto Grolig supporting.