Slaughter and May and A&O Shearman have taken lead roles on the £2.4bn takeover of FTSE 250 financial services firm Just Group by Brookfield Wealth Solutions.
The acquisition of Just Group, which specialises in the retirement income market, is part of a push by Canada’s Brookfield to deepen its involvement in the UK market, and comes after the company earlier this year launched a UK subsidiary, Blumont, which will now be merged with Just.
The A&O Shearman team advising Brookfield is being headed up by London-based M&A partners Seth Jones and Matt Hamilton-Foyn as well as insurance partners Phillip Jarvis and Kate McInerney, financing partner Neil Sinha, Paul McCarthy on share award aspects, Lydia Challen on tax and Dominic Long on competition.
Slaughters is advising Just Group, with the magic circle firm’s team led by corporate M&A co-head Richard Smith and partners Natalie Cook and Nick Bonsall.
A&O Shearman and Slaughters also both recently advised on European insurance group Athora’s £5.7bn acquisition of Pension Insurance Corporation Group (PIC), another multibillion-pound UK-focused derisking business.
Smith said the Brookfield-Just deal served as a reminder of the UK’s ability to attract investment. ‘Global businesses are deploying capital in the UK – we saw that when we advised on the sale of PIC to Apollo’s Athora business and we see it here with Brookfield’s offer for Just Group. We had previously advised Just on some debt and regulatory capital work previously and we were delighted to be brought in here by their highly impressive management team for our takeovers expertise too,’ he added in a statement.
Jones, head of UK M&A said: ‘We are delighted to be supporting Brookfield Wealth Solutions on this important strategic transaction, which accelerates BWS’s growth ambitions in the UK, one of its core markets.’
On the Athora deal, A&O Shearman worked alongside US firm Sidley, with Jones, McInerney and Jarvis again leading the firm’s team, while Slaughters advised a group of selling shareholders of PICG, including Reinet Investments, CVC Capital Partners and HPS Investment Partners.
Just Group sells retirement products and operates in the pensions derisking market. The premium on the deal is 75% to yesterday’s (30 July) share price.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the deal as evidence that ‘the UK remains one of the best places in the world for business’.
However, the takeover continues a trend of take-private deals for UK-listed companies, fuelling concerns over the attractiveness of the London Stock Exchange (for more, see ECM partners back London IPO rebound despite 30-year low).
