Services for Sensitive Transactions, State Risk and FDI Screening
Qualifying, securing, influencing, structuring and executing transactions exposed to foreign investment screening, State risk and sovereignty issues.
Some transactions can no longer be conducted as mere financial, legal or industrial operations.
When an investment concerns a strategic asset, a critical technology, sensitive infrastructure, a defense-related activity, an essential supply chain, sensitive data or a sector exposed to sovereignty concerns, the success of the deal also depends on how it is perceived by the State, public authorities and institutional stakeholders.
In these situations, the issue is not only whether the transaction is legally possible.
The central question becomes more operational:
is the transaction executable, acceptable and capable of being secured within its regulatory, institutional and sovereign environment?
Relians advises investors, investment funds, industrial groups, investment banks, law firms, executives and M&A advisors on transactions exposed to foreign investment screening, State risk, economic sovereignty issues and transaction execution constraints.
Its service offering is structured around five critical moments of the deal: qualify, secure, influence, structure and execute.
An Offering Structured Around the Critical Moments of the Deal
In a sensitive transaction, risks rarely emerge only at closing.
They arise much earlier: during the initial qualification of the transaction, the preparation of an offer, entry into exclusivity, due diligence, governance structuring, the first exchanges with authorities or the assessment of the investor’s profile.
Relians intervenes precisely at these critical moments to help clients identify the transaction’s actual exposure.
Anticipating the expectations of public authorities, qualify State risk, assess sovereign sensitivities, structure a credible path, prepare institutional dialogue and secure the transaction timetable.
The firm’s approach is not designed to duplicate the work of legal, financial or tax advisors.
It provides a strategic, institutional and sovereignty-based reading of the transaction, focused on its actual feasibility, acceptability and execution.
The Five Relians Services
Qualify: Foreign Investment Screening Assessment
The foreign investment screening assessment provides a rapid initial strategic reading of a transaction’s exposure to the French IEF regime, FDI screening and the sovereign sensitivities likely to affect the deal.
This service is particularly useful before an LOI, before a binding offer, before entry into exclusivity, during a preliminary due diligence phase or before structuring a transaction involving a sensitive French target.
It helps assess the sensitivity level of the asset, the investor’s profile, institutional perception risks, potential timing constraints and the possible impact on closing feasibility.
Possible deliverables:
- Preliminary IEF qualification note;
- FDI Risk Assessment – France;
- Transaction sensitivity scoring;
- Mapping of critical issues;
- Initial structuring recommendations.
Request a foreign investment screening assessment
Secure: Securing Sensitive Transactions
Securing sensitive transactions consists in integrating, at a very early stage, the regulatory, institutional, sovereignty-related and political constraints likely to affect the execution of a transaction.
In some transactions, the difficulty does not lie solely in the legal structuring of the deal. It lies in making the transaction acceptable, credible and executable in an environment where public decision-making may influence the timetable, authorization conditions, valuation or completion of the closing.
Relians advises on transactions exposed to foreign investment screening, State risk, economic sovereignty issues, institutional sensitivities and transaction execution risks.
Possible deliverables:
- Transaction feasibility analysis;
- Institutional sensitivity mapping;
- deal-securing strategy;
- State risk note;
- deal execution recommendations.
Secure a sensitive transaction
Influence: Lobbying and Institutional Support for Sensitive Transactions
In certain acquisitions, restructurings, foreign investments or cross-border transactions, the success of the deal depends as much on the quality of institutional dialogue as on the legal or financial robustness of the transaction.
Lobbying for sensitive transactions is not a matter of traditional public affairs. It consists in structuring credible dialogue with public authorities in order to secure understanding of the project, the acceptability of the transaction, the credibility of the investor, the transaction timetable and the conditions of authorization.
Relians assists clients in preparing and conducting sensitive institutional sequences, particularly where the transaction involves a foreign investor, a strategic asset, a regulated sector, a critical technology or political risk.
Possible deliverables:
- Institutional mapping;
- Influence strategy note;
- institutional argumentation brief;
- Preparation for public-sector meetings;
- support for executives in sensitive interactions.
Structure the institutional dialogue for a sensitive transaction
Structure: Strategic Due Diligence for Sensitive Transactions
In some transactions, legal, financial, tax or accounting due diligence is not sufficient.
A transaction may appear secure from a contractual and financial standpoint while remaining highly exposed to an authorization risk, institutional opposition, sovereign sensitivity, political risk, governance difficulty or timetable deterioration.
Strategic due diligence for sensitive transactions aims to identify the risks that traditional audits do not always reveal: exposure to the French IEF regime, State risk, sovereign sensitivity of the asset, perception of the investor, industrial dependencies, sensitive data, strategic supply chains, mitigation risks and institutional acceptability of the transaction.
Possible deliverables:
- Strategic Due Diligence Memorandum;
- FDI & Sovereignty Risk Assessment;
- Deal Execution Risk Matrix;
- strategic analysis of the target and the investor;
- operational recommendations for the board, investment committee or deal team.
Request a confidential strategic due diligence review
Execute: Advisory Services for Cross-Border Transactions and Foreign Investments
Certain cross-border transactions can no longer be assessed solely at national level.
An acquisition may be simultaneously exposed to foreign investment screening in France, European cooperation mechanisms for foreign investment screening, the attention of the European Commission, CFIUS in the United States or other applicable regimes depending on the jurisdictions concerned.
In these situations, risk becomes a matter of global execution. It may affect the timetable, filing sequence, coordination between authorities, authorization conditions, mitigation measures, institutional perception of the investor, valuation, signing and closing.
Relians advises on cross-border transactions involving sensitive French or European assets, non-European investors, critical technologies, strategic infrastructure, dual-use activities, sensitive data, subsidiaries or contracts exposed to the United States, CFIUS issues or strategic European Union programs.
Possible deliverables:
- Cross-Border FDI Risk Map;
- EU Screening Exposure Note;
- CFIUS Strategic Exposure Review
- Institutional Strategy Brief
- Recommendations on filing sequence, institutional messaging and execution scenarios.
How to Choose the Right Service ?
Each Relians service corresponds to a different moment in the transaction.
If you need to determine quickly whether a transaction is exposed to foreign investment screening, the natural starting point is the foreign investment screening assessment.
If the transaction has already been identified as sensitive and you need to preserve the timetable, feasibility or deal certainty, securing sensitive transactions is the most appropriate service.
If the success of the deal depends on structured dialogue with public authorities, an institutional strategy or interest representation, institutional support should be mobilized.
If you are in a pre-acquisition analysis phase, preparing a binding offer, presenting to an investment committee or conducting due diligence, strategic due diligence helps identify risks that traditional audits do not always capture.
If the transaction involves several jurisdictions, European exposure, a CFIUS dimension or sensitive cross-border assets, advisory services for cross-border transactions and foreign investments allow the various regimes to be integrated into a coherent execution strategy.
An Integrated Approach with Legal and Financial Advisors
Relians works in coordination with law firms, investment banks, M&A teams, executive management, legal departments, public affairs departments, investment funds and communications advisors.
The role of the firm is not to replace legal or financial advisors.
Relians provides a complementary reading of the transaction: strategic, institutional, sovereignty-based and transactional.
This approach makes it possible to integrate the State factor into the overall deal strategy, from preliminary analysis through execution.
It also helps better articulate the regulatory, political, industrial and institutional dimensions of a sensitive transaction, in order to reduce the risks of blockage, misunderstanding or timetable deterioration.
Why Relians?
Relians is a strategic advisory firm specializing in sensitive transactions, foreign investment screening, State risk and transactions exposed to sovereignty issues.
For more than twenty years,
Relians has advised investors, industrial groups, funds, investment banks and advisors on transactions involving strategic assets, critical technologies, defense-related activities, aerospace, space, cybersecurity, energy, sensitive data, critical infrastructure, France–U.S. transactions, CFIUS, the French IEF regime and economic security.
The firm’s approach is based on a simple conviction: in certain transactions, success depends as much on the institutional and strategic acceptability of the deal as on its legal or financial structuring.
Relians operates at the interface of M&A, public decision-making, foreign investment screening, economic sovereignty and transaction execution.
This position enables the firm to support clients at the moments when understanding the State factor becomes a condition for the feasibility of the deal.
— FAQ —
Relians Services
What are the five services offered by Relians?
Relians structures its offering around five services: foreign investment screening assessment, securing sensitive transactions, lobbying and institutional support, strategic due diligence for sensitive transactions, and advisory services for cross-border transactions and foreign investments.
What is Relians’ role in a sensitive transaction?
Relians advises on transactions where State risk, foreign investment screening, sovereignty issues or interactions with public authorities may affect deal execution.
Does Relians act as a law firm?
No. Relians does not replace legal advisors. The firm acts as a strategic and institutional advisor to help clients anticipate execution risks, sovereign sensitivities and the expectations of public authorities.
When should Relians be consulted?
As early as possible. Relians’ involvement is particularly useful before an LOI, before a binding offer, before entry into exclusivity, during due diligence or before any sensitive interaction with authorities.
What is the difference between an IEF assessment and strategic due diligence?
The IEF assessment is designed to qualify rapidly a transaction’s exposure to foreign investment screening and State risk. Strategic due diligence is broader: it analyzes all sovereign, institutional, industrial and transactional factors likely to affect the execution of the transaction.
When should institutional support be mobilized?
Institutional support becomes necessary when the success of the transaction depends on credible dialogue with public authorities, an interest representation strategy, preparation for interactions with authorities or controlled management of political risk.
Does Relians advise on international transactions?
Yes. Relians advises on cross-border transactions exposed to foreign investment screening in France, European screening mechanisms, CFIUS in the United States and international economic security issues.
Speak with Relians
Are you considering an acquisition, investment, restructuring or cross-border transaction exposed to foreign investment screening, State risk or sovereignty issues?
Relians can assist you in qualifying the transaction’s exposure, structuring the execution strategy, securing the timetable and preparing sensitive institutional interactions.
Speak confidentially with Relians
