- U.S. advisory boutiques have lifted their share of French M&A fees to about 6% in 2024 from ~1% in 2019 by poaching senior talent and targeting marquee mandates.
- Paris remains dominated by Lazard and Rothschild & Co at roughly 12% each, protected by deep local networks and limited client churn.
- French M&A is becoming more top-heavy: 2024 deal value rose ~10% but volumes fell ~30%, squeezing domestic and mid-cap activity.
- The boutiques’ selective, high-fee strategy can win prestige without scale, but growth is constrained by a shrinking fee pool and political/regulatory uncertainty.
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The Financial Times article provides a detailed look at a shifting investment banking landscape in Paris, where U.S. boutiques are steadily carving a space in a market long dominated by Lazard and Rothschild. Their gain—from ~1% to ~6% of French M&A advisory fees over five years—is meaningful but still modest relative to the incumbents, each retaining ~12%.
Several factors enable the boutiques’ progress. First, key talent hire events—such as Matthieu Pigasse’s move from Lazard to Centerview in 2019—provide both symbolic momentum and client relationships critical in French deal culture. Second, the boutiques are not seeking volume; instead, they focus on high-profile mandates. For example, Centerview advised on L’Oréal’s purchase of Aesop, joining other top-tier roles with CAC-40 companies.
Still, structural challenges remain. M&A revenues in France declined from $1.6 billion in 2022 to $1.3 billion in 2024, reflecting weakened deal flow overall. Additionally, regulatory, cultural, and network barriers—deeply rooted ties between French business-families and incumbent advisory houses—are hard to displace. The dominance of Lazard and Rothschild is reinforced by decades of intermarried relationships with elite clients, as well as limited client churn.
From a market size and pace perspective, France’s M&A market showed resilience in 2024: Chambers & Partners reports total transaction value rose about 10% year-on-year despite political instability following debt downgrades and snap elections; yet volume dropped ~30%, especially for domestic and mid-cap deals. This creates both opportunity and risk: big, marquee deals will matter more than ever; firms without leading advisory strength may struggle.
Strategically, U.S. boutiques face a balancing act: expanding prestige and share without overextending or entering lower-margin work. Their selective model protects margins but means growth is uneven. Meanwhile, incumbents are under pressure to retain talent, modernize offerings, and deepen specialization (e.g. restructuring, cross-border deals) to stay competitive.
Open questions remain around regulatory shifts (foreign investment screening), political risk, and whether the economic cycle will trigger either a surge in distressed opportunities or a further drop in deal activity in France and Europe more broadly. The question of whether the boutiques can eventually challenge incumbents financially (share vs. profitability vs cultural embeddedness) is still unresolved.
Supporting Notes
- The U.S. boutiques’ share of French M&A fees rose from ~1% in 2019 to ~6% in 2024.
- Lazard and Rothschild each maintain about 12% of French M&A advisory fee market share.
- Since 2018, U.S. firms have recruited “more than 150 bankers in Paris”; Rothschild employs ~240; Lazard employs ~180 (i.e. ~30 more than the U.S. firms collectively).
- Total French M&A revenues: $1.6 bn in 2022; $1.4 bn in 2023; $1.3 bn in 2024.
- Overall French M&A deal volume dropped roughly 30% in 2024 vs 2023; yet transaction value rose ~10% for that year, according to Chambers & Partners.
- L’Oréal’s acquisition of Aesop advised by Centerview demonstrates boutiques winning top-tier mandates.
- Boutiques focus on advisory and high-value deals and limit volume; many hires are French nationals with incumbency pedigrees.
- Political factors like France’s debt downgrade (May 2024) and snap elections in June 2024 weighed on confidence, especially in smaller domestic deals.