Overview
Jacques Buhart, based in the Firm’s Paris and Brussels offices, focuses his practice on corporate M&A and EU competition. He is the founder of the Firm’s Paris office, which counts now about 100 lawyers.
On the M&A side, Jacques advised Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the restructuring of the French nuclear industry and acquisition of interest in Framatome and Orano as well as attempt with Siemens to bid for Alstom; Metsaliitto in its acquisitions and divestments in the EU; TUI is its acquisition of Transat France and Nidec in the creation of a joint-venture with Peugeot and Fujitsu in the acquisition of a French cloud company. Jacques also advised Arriva in the privatization of rail transport in France.
Jacques has handled a broad range of complex competition matters. In the merger field, among others, he represented Cellnex in challenging the joint- venture between Vodafone and Télécom Italia, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power in challenging the acquisition of Alstom by GE; TotalFina in its acquisition of Elf (second phase); Metsä-Serla in the sale of its carbonless paper division to Arjowiggins (second phase) and in the notification of SCA’s acquisition of Metsä Tissue (second phase); and Atos Origin in its acquisition of Banksys.
On the cartel side, Jacques coordinated the defense of NGK in the cartel investigation conducted by the EC Commission, the US Department of Justice and the Canadian authorities. He represented Nippon Express in the freight forwarding investigation.
On the litigation side, Jacques represented Cascades in the carton board cartel case at the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg; Daiichi Pharmaceutical in the vitamins cartel case at the Court of First Instance and intervened in the Akzo legal privilege case on behalf of the IBA before the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice; as well as Coca-Cola at the Court of Appeal in Paris against allegations of abuse of dominant position.
Jacques has been the President of the IBA (SBL) and sits on the board of the Sorbonne law school. He also teaches since 2001 at the Tokyo Law School summer program.
Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in France, 2025
- The Legal 500 EMEA, Belgium: Competition: EU and Global, France: EU, Competition and Distribution, 2023-2024
- IFLR1000, M&A, 2022-2023
- Who’s Who Legal, Recommended, M&A and Governance, Competition, 2021
- Chambers Europe, Competition/European Law-Belgium
Credentials
Education
University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, LLM (DESS)
Hague Academy of International Law
University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, JD
Institute of Comparative Law, Diploma of the Institute of Comparative Law
École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), MBA
Admissions
Brussels
Paris
Languages
English
French
