Francisco Soler has been a partner since 2007 and is the partner in charge of Garrigues’ offices in the Valencian and Murcia Community Area.

He joined the firm in 1996, and has spent his entire career at Garrigues.

In 2005 he moved to Shanghai to establish the Garrigues Office in the city, of which he was managing partner for six years.

Francisco is a partner in the Corporate/Commercial Law Department in Valencia.

He specializes in M&A transactions, banking and financial law, corporate law, commercial contracts and foreign investments.

He has extensive experience in providing advice to private equity funds, as well as to industrial investors, on M&A transactions. He provides advice to these entities on M&A transactions, as well as on corporate and contractual law issues. He has participated in many of the principal acquisition transactions that have taken place in the Valencia Autonomous Community in recent years.

He is fluent in English, French and Italian.

• Degree in Law, Universidad de Valencia. Final-Year Academic Excellence Award.
• Degree in Economics and Business Studies, Universidad de Valencia.
• Degree in Political Science, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED).
• Postgraduate Diploma in EU Legal and Economic Studies, Sorbonne University (Paris).
• Specialist Qualification in EU Legal and Economic Studies, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Francisco is a part-time lecturer in the Law Department at Universidad Católica de Valencia. He has participated as a speaker in numerous seminars and conferences on M&A transactions, corporate/commercial law issues in Spain, as well as on business internationalization and foreign investments, including most notably:

• Lecturer in the ILLM of Instituto de Empresa.
• Lecturer in the International MBA Update organized by Instituto de Empresa. Responsible for the section on the legal and tax framework of foreign investment in China.
• Lecturer in the Master’s Degree in Commercial Relations with China of Instituto Universtario de Postgrado. Responsible for the section on the legal framework of foreign presence in China.
• Speaker in numerous seminars on foreign investment in China, both in Europe and in Asia (ICEX, UIMP, CEIBS, Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, Guipúzcoa Chamber of Commerce, Fundación de Estudios Bursátiles y Financieros, etc.).
• Lecturer in the Master’s Degree in Legal Counseling for Business of Fundación de Estudios Bursátiles y Financieros.
• Lecturer in the Course on Banking and Financial Law given to Federación de Cajas Rurales.

• Member of the Valencia Bar Association.
• Chairman of the Corporate and M&A Committee of the International Association of Lawyers.
• Deputy Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China (2006-2010).

He has authored various articles on commercial issues and on foreign investment in China in the press and in specialist magazines such Cinco Días, La Gaceta, Moneda Única, Tribuna del Derecho, etc.