Securing a Transatlantic Acquisition Before the Foreign Investment Authorization Filing
A leading U.S. industrial acquirer retained Relians for the acquisition of a French company operating in the aerospace and defense sectors.
The target developed critical technologies embedded in systems of industrial and strategic value. Its position, at the intersection of sensitive activities, critical supply chains and dual-use applications, directly exposed the transaction to French foreign investment screening.
The key issue was not merely the filing of an authorization application. The decisive point was to prepare the case before formal submission through French FDI pre-filing, to anticipate State expectations, identify friction points and secure the transaction before review.
Context and Challenges
The transaction involved the acquisition of a French aerospace and defense company by a U.S. industrial acquirer.
Several factors made the transaction sensitive: technology-intensive activities, potential dual-use applications, critical supply chains, a non-European investor, reinforced economic security policies and war in Europe.
The transaction could not be assessed only from a legal, financial or industrial perspective. It had to be approached as a State-risk transaction, reviewed in light of French interests relating to industrial sovereignty, national security, operational continuity and critical technologies.
The Key Issue: French FDI pre-filing
In this transaction, French FDI pre-filing became a major factor in securing the deal.
The risk was not only whether authorization would be granted. It also concerned review quality, timetable, project perception, possible commitments and transaction momentum through closing.
A French FDI application filed too early or poorly calibrated can weaken a sensitive transaction by triggering additional questions, timing uncertainty, misunderstanding of sensitive activities and difficulty formulating commitments.
The objective of French FDI pre-filing was clear: prepare the transaction before the formal opening of the procedure, reduce uncertainty, anticipate questions and structure a file aligned with the project’s institutional issues.
Our Assignment
Relians was retained before the filing of the foreign investment authorization application.
Our assignment was to secure the regulatory and institutional feasibility of the transaction before its formal entry into the French FDI screening process. The intervention was structured around three workstreams.
1. Investor Analysis
Relians analyzed the U.S. acquirer’s ownership structure, governance, industrial positioning, development strategy in France and Europe, ability to preserve sensitive activities, long-term credibility and institutional perceptions.
The purpose of French FDI pre-filing was not merely to document the acquirer. It was to understand how the investor could be perceived in a sensitive aerospace and defense transaction.
2. Transaction Analysis
Relians analyzed the structure of the transaction to identify points likely to trigger administrative attention.
This covered acquisition of control, continuity of sensitive activities, governance consequences, preservation of industrial capabilities in France, location of strategic activities, supply-chain risks and potential commitments.
French FDI pre-filing made it possible to assess the transaction not only as an acquisition, but as an industrial project to be made clear to the French authorities.
3. Target Analysis
Relians carried out a detailed mapping of the target’s sensitive activities.
This mapping identified critical technologies, dual-use applications, sensitive customers, industrial dependencies, operational continuity issues, export-control risks and elements likely to be perceived as strategic.
Through French FDI pre-filing, this analysis helped define the sensitive perimeter of the transaction and prepare responses to likely questions.
Structuring the File Before Filing
On the basis of this audit, Relians contributed to structuring the authorization application before formal filing.
The objective was to build a coherent file, aligned with the likely expectations of the French State.
French FDI pre-filing allowed the parties to work on sensitive-activity qualification, the acquirer’s industrial project, strategic rationale, continuity safeguards, potential commitments, message alignment and institutional concerns.
In a sensitive transaction, the French FDI file is not a mere administrative form. It is a tool for understanding, credibility and transaction security.
Integration of the Geopolitical and Institutional Context
Beyond regulatory analysis, Relians integrated a strategic reading of the institutional and geopolitical context.
This was essential in a transatlantic aerospace and defense transaction. The analysis considered economic security policies in Europe, critical technologies, industrial sovereignty, export controls, supply-chain tensions, defense sensitivities and foreign acquisitions in French strategic sectors.
French FDI pre-filing allowed the transaction to be placed in its real strategic environment, taking into account State expectations and institutional acceptability.
Results
The transaction was prepared under controlled conditions before the filing of the French FDI authorization application.
French FDI pre-filing made it possible to identify friction points before review, clarify sensitive elements, strengthen the industrial narrative, anticipate questions, reduce information-request risk and preserve transaction momentum.
The U.S. acquirer obtained the authorization required under French foreign investment screening and completed the acquisition.
This result confirms that French FDI pre-filing can be as decisive as the review process itself.
A Representative Case of French FDI pre-filing in a Sensitive Transaction
This transaction illustrates the value of strategic intervention before formal filing.
In aerospace and defense, cross-border transactions require precise understanding of target sensitivity, investor profile, State expectations and institutional context.
Relians operates at this interface. French FDI pre-filing becomes a transaction execution lever, helping the parties prepare their file, structure their argumentation and anticipate institutional acceptability.
In sensitive transactions, economic quality is not sufficient. Success also depends on the ability of the transaction to be understood, reviewed and accepted by the State.
What This Case Study Demonstrates
This case highlights several lessons: foreign investment screening must be integrated early, French FDI pre-filing secures the file before formal submission, investor, transaction and target analysis must be coordinated, geopolitical issues are inseparable from regulatory analysis, and initial file quality influences review.
Relians, Strategic Adviser for Sensitive Transactions
Relians advises investors, funds, industrial groups and advisers facing transactions exposed to foreign investment screening, State-risk and sovereignty issues.
In sensitive transactions, authorization is prepared upstream, when parties can still structure the project, anticipate points of attention and secure execution.
Relians intervenes at each critical stage: sensitivity qualification, French FDI diagnostic assessment, French FDI pre-filing, preparation of the authorization application, industrial narrative, commitments, institutional dialogue and timetable.
