Wesley R.Johnson Jr.

Wesley Johnson is a recognized leader among M&A lawyers in the United States and Europe. Wesley focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions in a wide variety of business sectors.

Major corporate client representations have included: Essilor, in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Transitions Optical; Alcatel-Lucent in its disposition of the Genesys business to Permira; Rhodia in dispositions and restructurings involving French and overseas assets; La Poste Française, including acquisition of the DPD parcel network in Germany; Rossi family interests in connection with the sale of Martini & Rossi to Bacardi; France Telecom/Orange with its acquisitions of Spanish mobile operator Amena and network services provider Equant; Thales in dispositions of the Magellan GPS business and of its stake in Embraer; Canadian paper group Cascades in a business combination with Reno de Medici; and OM Group in connection with refining assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other corporate clients have included China Investment Corporation, Crown Packaging, Eutelsat, Sinochem, Parker Hannifin, and Total.

Wesley is cited yearly as among the best corporate/M&A lawyers in France in the guides Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, PLC Which lawyer?, and The Legal 500 EMEA. He has lectured on M&A and corporate governance topics, including for the Conference Board Directors' Institute. He has been awarded the French Legion of Honor.