Gruia Dufaut & Asociații has provided legal advice and support to France Valley, a leading French investment group specializing in natural asset management, in the acquisition of a forestry portfolio exceeding 200 hectares located in Prahova County.

The assistane provided covered all stages of the transaction, from the legal due diligence, including checking the ownership titles, transfer history and identification of potential legal risks, up to transaction structuring, drafting the contractual documentation and support in negotiating the contractual terms. Special attention was given to compliance with the regulatory framework applicable to forestry assets (such as logging permits, the regime of the conservation and regeneration fund), to protected natural areas and first refusal rights.

The Gruia Dufaut & Asociații team advising on this transaction comprised Cristina Bojică (Partner), Teodora Koletsis (Partner) and Ileana - Alexandra Gheorghe (Associate).

„We are delighted with this first successful collaboration with France Valley, which strengthens the presence on the Romanian market of a leading French player in the management of investments in tangible assets with an ESG component, a company integrating ethical, environmental and sustainability criteria into its investment strategy. This transaction is also  a new success for our team specialized in real estate and specific forestry regulations. Forestry fund transactions are characterized by a high level of legal complexity, especially with a view to ownership titles and protection regime. Our approach was fully integrated, with a clear focus on risk anticipation and investment security”, said Cristina Bojică, Partner at Gruia Dufaut & Asociații.

About Gruia Dufaut & Asociații

Gruia Dufaut & Asociații is a business law firm, resulted from the transformation, in 2024, of the law office founded by Dana Gruia Dufaut, honorific lawyer in the Paris Bar and member of the Bucharest Bar Association. The firm has been assisting foreign investors in their projects for setting up and development on the local market, covering areas such as corporate and commercial law, M&A, real estate law, labour law, public procurement, competition law, energy law, medical law, data protection and litigation, commercial arbitration.

With an office in Bucharest and a branch in Paris, Gruia Dufaut & Asociații is a trusted partner of Team France Export (Business France), providing legal advice to French companies interested in the Romanian market. Starting with 2025, Gruia Dufaut & Asociații has become member of the international network Lexlink - International Legal Network, as exclusive representative in Romania.

About France Valley

France Valley is a French investment group specialising in the management of natural assets and real estate investments, especially via SCPI-type vehicles, founded in 2013.

At the end of 2025, the fund was running assets with an aggregate value of about €5.5 billion. In the natural assets segment, France Valley ranks among Europe’s leading asset managers, with approximately €1.3 billion in assets under management, with a portfolio comprising 650 forests across 12 countries (69,000 hectares), as well as 61 vineyards and agricultural land in France.