Wesley R. Johnson Jr.

Partner
Paris
Tel: 33.1.56.59.39.39
Fax: 33.1.56.59.39.38
Email:
wrjohnsonjr@jonesday.com
French Biography
Profile
|
Experience
|
Speaking Engagements
Related Services
Wesley Johnson is Partner-in-Charge in Paris. His practice focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance generally. Major recent client representations have included:
Rhône-Poulenc Chimie/Rhodia with a series of dispositions and restructurings involving French and overseas assets (1994-ongoing)
La Poste Française/Co&Lo/Geopost with its international M&A program, including acquisition of the DPD parcel network in Germany, acquisition of Mayne Nickless in U.K., joint venture with FedEx, and postal alliances in Europe (1997-ongoing)
Ernst & Young with the contribution of its worldwide consulting business to Cap Gemini and ensuing secondary offering of shares in a public offering in France and Rule 144A private placement in the United States (1999)
Diebold with its acquisition of the worldwide automatic teller machine (ATM) assets and activities of Bull S.A. and Getronics (1999-2000)
France Telecom with its $7.7 billion acquisition of a controlling interest in Auna, the parent company of Amena, Spain's third largest mobile operator (2005); the acquisition of a controlling interest (2001) and the buyout of minority shareholders (2005) of Equant; and the restructuring of Ericsson and Nokia vendor loans (2003) as well as the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in the Spanish company Ya.com (2007)
Thales Group in the disposition of Magellan and the disposition of its 2.2 percent shareholding in Embrear (2006) and
sanofi-aventis with various pending acquisition/disposition transactions (1999-ongoing).
Other French clients he has regularly represented include Total, Calyon, and Banque CPR. Representative U.S. clients include Abbott Laboratories, Diebold, and Parker Hannifin with respect to European M&A transactions.
Wesley is cited yearly as one of the best corporate/M&A lawyers in France in the guides Chambers Global, PLC Which lawyer?, and The Legal 500 EMEA.
Admitted
California and Paris Bars
Education
University of Michigan (B.A. magna cum laude 1975); Cambridge University (B.A. with first class honours 1977; M.A. 1982); Harvard University (M.A. 1978; J.D. cum laude 1982)
Languages
English, French