Étienne Épron is a French attorney registered with the Paris bar, managing partner of EQA Avocats. He leads the firm’s mergers and acquisitions, tax, and private clients departments.
His areas of practice include corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, tax and legal structuring of groups of companies, inter-generation transmission of enterprises and international sanctions.
Étienne Épron studied law in both France and Germany. He then spent five years with Gide in Moscow and Paris, and then seven as the managing director of the Franco-German law firm Sagasser Partners. Through these experiences, he has developed particular skills in M&A transactions involving Germany, France and Russia.
In addition to cross-border operations, Étienne Épron’s practice also covers domestic deals in numerous fields of business such as defence, digital communications, biotechnology, med-tech and digital services companies.
He frequently advises investment funds and French and foreign asset managers involved in acquiring, managing and selling French assets.
He also advises French start-ups that have reached the seed-funding stage on the legal and tax implications of their growth.
Given the current geopolitical climate, his work also includes the sale and restructuring of foreign investments in Russia, litigation against sanctions imposed on individuals by EU authorities, applications to the relevant EU authorities for authorisations and licences, assisting EU and Russian nationals to secure the release of their European assets and issuing legal opinions on compliance with EU legislation.
Étienne Épron acts as an expert advisor at political level on international sanctions. He has written several articles concerning the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus. Since 2018, he has been called upon regularly to speak on this subject in the media.
Experience
2006 – 2009 : Gide Moscou, associate
2009 – 2012 : Gide Paris, associate
2012 – 2014 : Ngo, Cohen Amir-Aslani, senior associate
2014 – 2021 : Sagasser SELAS, partner
since 2021 : EQA Avocats, founding partner
Education
Research’s Master (Master 2 / DEA) in French and German comparative law – Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, Paris
Higher studies in German and international economic laws (Höheren Studien der deutschen und internationalen Wirtschaftsrechte) – Humboldt Universität, Berlin
Master in civil law (Master 1 / Maîtrise) – Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, Paris
Master of Laws (LLM) in intellectual property – Humboldt Universität, Berlin
Languages
- French
- German
- English
- Russian
Publications
Crédit agricole assurance/ April Group
Linbox 2020. 
Linbox Creapharm 2021.
GFI informatique / Inservio.
GFI informatique/ Addstones.
Big Youth /Maheia.
MCI / Edmond de Rothschild.
Innovacom / olea.
Aspen Glaxo / SmithKline.
la coupole.
Sanctions.
TV: , ,
Profile concurrence.
Russian law 2006.
Village de la justice.
