Ginestié acts on dept store privatisation

France's Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent is advising the Moulin family on the privatisation of department store Galeries Lafayette.

Name partner Philippe Ginestié will advise the Moulins on the management of their 31.7 per cent stake in the store. The Meyer family controls another third of the shares, with the rest held by public shareholders.

The Moulins have set up a vehicle, Semad, with BNP Paribas to buy the public stake. Advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's Pierre-Yves Chabert, BNP bought the Meyers' shares before Semad made an offer for the remainder. The final stage of the deal is valued at €1.6bn (£1.09bn).

On completion, BNP will hold around a third of the shares, with the Moulins holding the remainder.

Linklaters Paris head Thierry Vassogne advised the Meyer family.