Dechert has picked up work from key White & Case client Mid Europa Partners, as new partners Ross Allardice and John Markland took roles on the private equity house’s €533m acquisition of supermarket Profi Rom Food.
Allardice (pictured) and Markland, who joined earlier this month from White & Case and Kirkland & Ellis respectively, have advised on the largest ever PE deal in Romania, in a first time instruction for Dechert. The duo have both advised Mid Europa in the past.
Allen & Overy’s (A&O) Romanian office led for the seller, Polish Enterprise Fund VI. RTPR Allen & Overy managing partner Costa Tărăcilă advised on the deal, while A&O co-head of private equity Stephen Lloyd also acted for the fund.
Allardice advised on M&A aspects, while Markland, who left Kirkland after 12 years, advised on private equity finance. Debt partner Giles Belsey also acted on the deal.
Allardice, whose client base also includes HgCapital, Better Capital and Nordic Capital, said: ‘It has been an exciting opportunity to be part of this highly innovative deal and to demonstrate the firm’s private equity credentials on a competitive auction process and our ability to successfully advise clients on complex cross-border transactions.’
Markland has advised clients including Palamon Capital, Bain Capital, and had founded Kirkland’s European debt finance team.
Dechert’s London office has looked to expand recently to boost its global private equity and finance offering. The firm most recently had revenues of around £44m for 2015 in the City.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
For more on the City’s leading private equity teams see: ‘ABC – the brutally simple world of a private equity lawyer’
