Linklaters and Slaughter and May have taken the lead roles on either side of a deal that has seen UK aerospace manufacturer Senior accept a £1.4bn takeover bid from a consortium led by Blackstone and industrial investor Tinicum.
The FTSE 250 company is being advised by Slaughters, with the firm’s team led by corporate partners Victoria MacDuff and Harry Hecht, and including competition partners Lisa Wright and Lorna Nsoatabe, pensions partner Phil Linnard, and banking head Ed Fife.
Opposite, private equity partner Alex Lehtinen and M&A partner Iain Fenn are leading the Linklaters team acting as counsel to the consortium.
Goodwin is also advising the consortium, while Freshfields is advising funds managed by Blackstone, with UK PE team head James Scott, who regularly acts for Blackstone, and M&A partner Kate Cooper leading. On regulatory matters, Blackstone is advised by a team from Simpson Thacher led by London and Brussels-based global antitrust and trade regulation co-chair Antonio Bavasso.
The deal is the latest example of a top UK-listed company being taken private, following asset manager Schroders, which was acquired by Nuveen for £9.9bn earlier this year, with Clifford Chance advising Nuveen and Slaughters again on the sell-side.
The recommended cash acquisition is being led by a newly formed company Zeus UK BidCo that is indirectly controlled by funds advised by Tinicum and Blackstone. Senior rejected a previous offer from PE house Advent, which, subsequent to Blackstone and Tinicum’s offer, ruled out launching a competing bid.
Tinicum recently acquired aerospace manufacturer AeroFlow Technologies, which it will place under common ownership with Senior as part of the deal, to help create ‘earnings resilience,’ the consortium said in a London Stock Exchange filing.
Senior CEO David Squires said: ‘BidCo’s offer recognises the quality of Senior, our talented people, our extensive breadth of products and capabilities and our strong growth prospects. In view of the intentions set out today, the Board has confidence that BidCo is committed to the growth of the Senior business, the continued focus on satisfying our customers, and the accelerated delivery of our strategic objectives.’
