Herbert Smith Freehills Paris LLP has advised Icade, a listed subsidiary of the French state-owned financial institution Caisse des dépôts (CDC), on its sale of Icade Property Management (IPM) to the property group Foncia.

Foncia announced on 29 April 2016 that it was in exclusive negotiations with Icade over the acquisition of IPM, the third largest property manager in France, which recorded EUR 30 million in turnover last year. IPM specialises in managing "complex buildings", especially high-rises; it is established in the greater Paris metro area as well as in Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, etc.

With a presence in France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, Foncia boasts a network of 8,000 employees at over 500 property agencies.

Herbert Smith Freehills Paris advised Icade on all the legal aspects of the transaction, with a team led by Frédéric Bouvet (partner) assisted by Magali Fernandes (of counsel) and Céline Le Bot on the corporate side, with Florence Chérel (partner) on property law aspects and Eglantine Lioret (partner) on tax law.