Anne Petitjean
Anne Petitjean is a partner in the Real Estate team of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in Paris.
With nearly twenty years of experience, Anne advises on major real estate transactions, including complex development, construction and forward‑purchase projects (VEFA). She represents owners, investors, developers and users at every stage of their projects, including planning and development matters.
She has developed recognised expertise in the data centre sector, where she assists leading players with the implantation, development, and real estate and regulatory aspects of their infrastructures.
Anne has also built extensive experience in negotiating commercial leases and has always chosen to advise both landlords and tenants, which enables her to adopt a highly pragmatic approach in complex negotiations and to assess the acceptable limits for both landlords and tenants.
Beyond transactional work, Anne has strong litigation skills in commercial lease disputes, including renewal rent setting, notice challenges and reinstatement obligations. This allows her to provide the best possible advice during negotiations by identifying and managing potential risks, as well as handling complex, large‑scale lease arrangements.
Anne also advises on renewable energy matters and real estate decarbonisation projects with significant strategic impact.
Anne is ranked among the Best Lawyers for Real Estate Law in France (Best Lawyers 2025) and is listed as a Next Generation Partner in Real Estate by Legal 500 EMEA (2020–2025). The directories note: “Anne has been an exceptional professional partner with whom I have developed a strong, lasting, and high-quality relationship.” (Legal 500 EMEA 2025); “Anne is fast, efficient, and a very good negotiator who always tries to find solutions.” (Legal 500 EMEA 2024); and “Anne is the partner in charge of questions of construction and town planning for us, and is particularly precise in her explanations and her analyses; she makes it possible to make comprehensible any complex subject for a layman.” (Legal 500 EMEA 2023).
She is also recognised by Décideurs 2025 in the following categories: Real Estate, Real Estate Transactions – Investment (Highly recommended); Promotion & Construction, Real Estate Development (Excellent); Real Estate, Asset management & leases (Excellent); Public Law, Urban commercial planning (Excellent); and Public Law, Urban planning (Recommended).
Experience & capabilities
Selected matters
Leases
- SAGE in the negotiation of the lease for its new headquarters in the Hekla tower at La Défense
- Amundi Immobilier in connection with the negotiation of the commercial lease for Deloitte France’s headquarters and the AXA Investment Managers (AXA's headquarters) commercial lease in the Tour Majunga at La Défense
- Citibank in the negotiation of the commercial lease for its French headquarters in Paris
Data centres
- Cellnex in the sale of Towerlink France to Vauban Infra Fibre
- Etix Everywhere in the acquisition of five data centres from the DataBank group, operated by zColo France SAS and located in Montpellier, Paris and Toulouse
- STACKInfrastructure for one of its developments in the Paris region
- Global Switch in connection with the expansion of its data centre in the Paris suburbs
- Eurazeo in its investment in regional data‑centre operator Etix Everywhere through its Infrastructure Fund
Mixed‑use development and refurbishment projects
- UBS on the refurbishment of its headquarters on rue du Colisée in Paris
- JPMorgan Asset Management on the development of a 16,500‑sqm high‑end resort in Tignes
- SOGEPROM on the renovation of an office building in Paris’s central business district
Renewables and real estate decarbonisation
- GreenYellow on the conclusion of a strategic partnership for the development and operation of photovoltaic canopies across 350 Carrefour hypermarket and supermarket car parks in France
- Clariane on its senior‑residence decarbonisation programme, including the negotiation of energy‑performance contracts
- Renault on the development of ultra‑fast charging infrastructure accessible to all electric vehicles, primarily installed at Renault dealership sites across nearly 100 locations in France
- Neoen on the sale of a 760‑MW operational portfolio to Plenitude
Sectors
Background
Anne joined the firm in March 2018 after 11 years in the real estate department of an international law firm.
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