The coronavirus crisis may have slowed deal flow to a crawl for the time being in France, but at least one aspect of M&A practice is gaining a higher profile: remote closing via electronic signature.

Gide Loyrette Nouel used the remote path this week to complete the sale of its client Cérélia, a French maker of industrial dough, to the private equity group Ardian. The deal, which closed March 31, was valued at €700 million ($757 million).

Remote closings are now obligatory for any deal concluded during the COVID-19 confinement, a Gide partner on the deal told Law.com International—and the process will probably have legs even after the restrictions are lifted.

"Before the confinement, remote closings were used in 10% to 20% of our deals," said Caroline Lan, a Gide corporate M&A partner who advised Cérélia along with fellow Gide partner Jean-François Louit. "After the confinement, I expect they will be 50%."

Technical barriers to remote closings were removed 20 years ago with a French law change in 2000 to give electronic signatures the same legal value as written signatures. European law followed suit in 2016, extending the authorization throughout the European Union.

Client preferences have taken a little longer to catch up, Lan said—partly out of habit. "Many clients were attached to the idea of physical signatures on a paper document," she said.

The COVID-19 crisis is changing that. "Everyone has had to adapt, even the most skeptical," Lan said. "And in fact, remote closings have many advantages, especially in timetabling when multiple signatories are involved."

In addition to Lan and Louit, Gide's team on the Cérélia deal included tax partner Magali Buchert and tax counsel Brian Martin.

Cérélia's financial director, Grégoire Julien, singled out the Gide team as a "real asset in the preparation, negotiation and execution of this operation" in "an unprecedented macro-economic context."