Italian Business and Real Estate Practice

We assist foreign clients on international commercial agreements, business and real estate transactions in Italy

In this area, we assist foreign clients for the purpsoe of drafting, negotiation and execution of international commercial agreements with Italian counterparts including:

Italian sales representative agreements;
Italian joint venture and partnership agreements;
Italian distributorship agreements;
Italian IP licensing and technology development agreements;
Italian collaboration and employment agreements;
Italian real estate investments.

Our Services

Commercial Transactions

We represent foreign clients in Italy for the purpose of the drafting, negotiation and execution of all types of commercial agreements with Italian counterparts including sales agency and representative agreements, distributions agreements, joint ventures and partnership agreements, licensing agreements, and services agreements.

Italian commercial agreements are governed by specific provisions of the Italian civil code and generally fall within the jurisdiction of Italian courts. Properly drafted choice of law, jurisdictional or arbitration clauses in those agreements can take the agreements out of the scope of Italian law and Italian courts jurisdiction. However, the validity and effect of such clauses must be carefully evaluated under Italy’s conflict of law and international procedural law.

In this area of international contract law, we provide specific legal advice to foreign clients designed to provide the maximum benefits while negotiating a commercial contract with an Italian counterpart, bot with respect to the terms that govern the substance of the transactions, as well as the provisions establishing the applicable law and proper forum of any possible litigation.

IP Licensing and Development Agreements

Intellectual property licensing agreements concerning business know how, proprietary information, and registered patents, trademakrs or trade names require specific attention. We assist client in the negotiation of such contracts, bearing in mind that they often go to the heart of the client’s business value and are vital for the growth and protection of the client’s business.

Employment and Collaboration Agreements

Employment relationships in Italy are subject to a fixed set of provisions set forth in various and often sparsed statutes, regulations and administrative codes, as well as to the terms of collective bargaining agreemen negotiated and agreed upon between unions and adopted by the courts in their ruling on employment litigation cases. All of those provisions often supersede conflicting contractual clauses that may be contaied in individual employment agreements.

The legal and administrative framework in this area of Italian law is extremely challening, and the employment of Italian personnel by a foreign owned or controlled enterprise has various legal and tax ramificatons to be considered carefully.

We advise foreign clients on matters pertaining to employment agreements with Italian personnel, and help them set up their relationship with their Italian staff in the most efficient way and in compliance with Italian law.

Real Estate Investment Transactions

The Italian real estate market offer great investment opportunities.

Real estate transactions are governed by specific rules which set forth the procedure to complete the deal, from the initial offer, to the preliminary contract of sale and the final purchase through the closing.

Real property rental income and gains are subject to tax in Italy, and nonresident individuals or companies must report their real property holding and file an income tax return.

We assist foreign investors in properly structuring their real estate investments in Italy to minimize the impact of Italian taxes, facilitate the management of the investment and the allow the exit once the investment is terminated, including the use of foreign or Italian holding companies, the enhancement of tax deductions and benefits, and the use of other favorable tax provisions.

Our services in this area include:

assistance in the sale and purchase transaction throughout all its stages from the initial offer, to the execution of sale and purchase agreement, to the final closing;
assistance in managing Italian real property, including preparing and entering into contracts of lease, collecting rents, paying insurance and management fees and costs, attending condominium board meetings and handling condominium matters etc.;
advising on the proper planning of the transaction to obtain tax and legal benefits.

NEW YORK

45 Rockfeller Plz, Suite 2000
New York, NY 10111 (USA)
newyork@mqrassociati.com

BEVERLY HILLS

9595 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (USA)
beverlyhills@mqrassociati.com

MIAMI

999 Brickell Ave, Suite 1002
Miami, FL 33131 (USA)
miami@mqrassociati.com

MILANO

Corso Vercelli, 11
20144 Milan (Italy)
milan@mqrassociati.com

GENOVA

Via Brigata Liguria, 1/12A
16121 Genoa (Italy)
genoa@mqrassociati.com

DISCLAIMER

This web site is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Persons accessing this site are encouraged to seek independent counsel for advice regarding their individual legal issues.