US firms have taken the lead on a multibillion-pound take-private deal, as London-listed DCC Energy sells to a KKR-backed consortium.
Latham & Watkins, Cleary Gottlieb, Gibson Dunn and Kirkland & Ellis have all snapped up roles on the deal, as Energy Capital Partners (ECP) and KKR have agreed to buy the Irish energy company for £5.75bn.
Latham is advising ECP and the consortium, with a team led by Legal 500 high-value PE Hall of Famer David Walker and fellow corporate partner Doug Abernethy, both based in London.
The team also included regulatory partners Philipp Studt in Brussels and Jonathan Parker and Ludmilla Le Grand, both based in London, as well as employment and benefits partner Kendall Burnett, Legal 500 corporate tax Hall of Famer Helen Lethaby, and finance partner Delyth Hughes, all in London.
Cleary is advising DCC Energy, with a London team led by Legal 500 premium M&A leading partner Nick Rumsby, and including antitrust partner John Messent.
The firm previously advised DCC on the sale of its DCC Healthcare business to HealthCo last April, with a team also led by Rumsby.
Gibson Dunn is advising KKR and the consortium on the deal, with a team led from London by M&A practice co-head Will McDonald, and Federico Fruhbeck, who co-chairs the firm’s project finance and infrastructure practice group, as well as co-leading its Europe private equity practice.
The firm’s antitrust and competition co-chair and partner in charge of its Brussels office, Christian Riis-Madsen, is also advising on the deal, as well as corporate partner Jakob Egle and tax partner James Chandler, both based in London.
Kirkland is also acting for the consortium, advising on debt finance, with a team led by Legal 500 acquisition finance leading partner Sinead O’Shea and partner Jia Meng, both based in London. Also on the team are London capital markets partner Marwa Elborai and New York derivatives partner Drue Santora.
Ashurst Perkins Coie also has a role on the deal, advising Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the lead financial advisers to the consortium, with a team led by London corporate finance partners Tom Mercer and Darren Phelan.
Meanwhile, Matheson is advising ECP and Arthur Cox is representing KKR on Irish law.
The deal is the latest in a string of recent public-to-private transactions, following easyJet’s sale to Apollo earlier this month, with Clifford Chance and Paul Weiss taking the lead roles.
KKR’s involvement marks its largest European public-to-private investment in over a decade.
