cédants

Cédant is a legal term used in French law to denote the party that transfers or assigns a right, asset, or claim to another party, known as the cessionnaire. The act of transferring is called a cession, and the cédant is the grantor or transferor in that arrangement. The term is used across civil, commercial, and financial contexts, including debt assignments, sale of business interests, and assignment of contractual rights.

Common contexts and mechanisms include cession de créances (assignment of receivables), cession de parts sociales or actions (transfer of equity interests), and cession de contrat (assignment of contractual rights). In cession de créances, the debtor typically must be notified of the transfer; the debtor’s consent is not always required for validity, but the notification changes the creditor with whom the debtor owes the debt. In cession de parts sociales, share transfers are subject to corporate law requirements and often to the company’s articles of association or shareholders’ agreements. Cession de contrat may lead to novation, where the cessionnaire becomes the new party to the contract, potentially releasing the cédant from future obligations.

Rights and obligations of the cédant can include warranties regarding the claimed rights, disclosure of known defects, and potential liability for breaches or misrepresentations unless the contract provides otherwise. The exact effects and remedies depend on the applicable contract terms and governing law, with distinctions between the roles of cédant, cessionnaire, and other parties involved.