Global Elite line up on Nestlé’s $10bn skincare business sale to EQT

Posted on |
Global Elite line up on Nestlé’s $10bn skincare business sale to EQT

Latham & Watkins is acting alongside US counterpart Kirkland & Ellis in advising EQT as the private equity house looks to acquire Nestlé’s skincare business, in what could be one of the largest transactions in Europe this year.

Nestlé, which is being advised by Linklaters corporate partners David Martin and Michael Honan, confirmed talks with EQT in May following a competitive auction process with rival buyout funds and industry players all eager to make the acquisition. The group of investors includes Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Continue reading “Global Elite line up on Nestlé’s $10bn skincare business sale to EQT”

Dealwatch: Insolvencies provide work for CC and Gateley

Posted on |
Dealwatch: Insolvencies provide work for CC and Gateley
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised food chain Pret A Manger as it agreed to acquire all of Eat’s 94 shops for an undisclosed sum. The London team was led by corporate partners Richard Youle, Katja Butler and Linda Davies. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also advised Pret on antitrust while Travers Smith acted for the selling shareholders.

    •  

  • Gateley fielded insolvency partner Daniel French to act alongside administrator KPMG after Jamie Oliver’s restaurant business collapsed. The insolvency will see 22 of the 25 eateries close, resulting in 1,000 job losses. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Insolvencies provide work for CC and Gateley”

Cash in hand: Slaughter and May to pocket £6m in fees for advice on failed hostile bid

Posted on |
Cash in hand: Slaughter and May to pocket £6m in fees for advice on failed hostile bid

Slaughter and May is set to receive over £6m in fees after advising sub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) on its failed £1.3bn takeover of doorstep lender Provident Financial, which collapsed on Tuesday night (4 June) due to insufficient regulatory capital and a lack of shareholder support.

The mandate for Slaughters was led by corporate head Andy Ryde alongside fellow partner Paul Mudie, with the hostile bid being launched in February of this year. However the Prudential Regulation Authority decided the combined entity would not carry sufficient capital at the point of completion, and therefore blocked the deal. Slaughters did not advise the client on capital or shareholder-related issues. Continue reading “Cash in hand: Slaughter and May to pocket £6m in fees for advice on failed hostile bid”

Apollo hamstrung as Freshfields helps Berry complete eleventh-hour bid for UK plastics group

Posted on |
Apollo hamstrung as Freshfields helps Berry complete eleventh-hour bid for UK plastics group

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer successfully advised US manufacturing company Berry Global as it completed a late bid for UK-headquartered RPC Group, after private equity house Apollo Global Management cornered itself with a best and final offer.

The £3.43bn Berry bid only slightly surpassed the previous £3.3bn bid from Apollo, but was approved in early March by RPC’s board. Apollo made its final bid for RPC in a no-increase statement, leaving out the necessary caveats to return with an improved offer. Continue reading “Apollo hamstrung as Freshfields helps Berry complete eleventh-hour bid for UK plastics group”

Dealwatch: Global 100 firms share spoils on flurry of private equity and public M&A mandates

Posted on |
Dealwatch: Global 100 firms share spoils on flurry of private equity and public M&A mandates
  • Slaughter and May is acting on the £1.3bn unsolicited bid for doorstep lender Provident Financial. Corporate head Andy Ryde (pictured) is joined by Paul Mudie in advising the bid from Non-Standard Finance. Provident, meanwhile, has enlisted Clifford Chance corporate partners Lee Coney and Mark Poulton.
  • Eversheds Sutherland fielded a team led by partner Aleen Gulvanessian on Dairy Crest’s £975m sale to Canadian dairy company Saputo. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the buyer, with energy and natural resources head Laurie McFadden and corporate partner Stephen Hewes at the helm. Ashurst advised Lazard as buy-side financial adviser.

Continue reading “Dealwatch: Global 100 firms share spoils on flurry of private equity and public M&A mandates”

Buyout star Adrian Maguire to join Kirkland in body blow to Freshfields

Posted on |
Buyout star Adrian Maguire to join Kirkland in body blow to Freshfields

One of the most touted private equity names in the City, Adrian Maguire, has quit Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to join Kirkland & Ellis just over a year after his former colleague David Higgins made the same move.

Freshfields-bred and regarded as a loyalist to the firm, Maguire is leaving the Magic Circle outfit after more than two decades in what will be seen as a notable setback for its attempts to limit the damage of Higgins’ $10m move in December 2017. Continue reading “Buyout star Adrian Maguire to join Kirkland in body blow to Freshfields”

Pharma just the tonic for US firms leading on Boston Scientific’s £3bn bid for BTG

Posted on |
Pharma just the tonic for US firms leading on Boston Scientific’s £3bn bid for BTG

An array of City and US firms have landed roles advising on Boston Scientific’s buyout of British healthcare firm BTG in the latest bumper deal in the pharmaceutical sector. Allen & Overy (A&O), Shearman & Sterling, Travers Smith, White & Case, and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer were all called upon to advise on the deal, continuing a spate of takeovers in the UK healthcare market.

Shearman acted as lead counsel for longstanding client Boston Scientific, with a team headed by New York corporate partner Clare O’Brien alongside London-based veteran Europe and Middle East M&A head Laurence Levy. City firm Travers worked alongside Shearman, with partner Mahesh Varia advising on share option schemes, while Arnold & Porter Washington DC antitrust partner Michael Bernstein was also drafted in by Boston Scientific. Continue reading “Pharma just the tonic for US firms leading on Boston Scientific’s £3bn bid for BTG”

Dealwatch: Pre-Christmas run of real estate and power deals for US and City players

Posted on |
Dealwatch: Pre-Christmas run of real estate and power deals for US and City players
  • Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is advising entertainment and communications company ARRIS on its proposed $7.4bn acquisition by CommScope Holding Company. The HSF team is led by corporate partners Gavin Davies, Alex Kay and Caroline Rae. Pinsent Masons is acting for CommScope on the acquisition with corporate partners Rob Hutchings and Roberta Markovina leading. Alston & Bird also advised CommScope while fellow US outfit Troutman Sanders acted alongside HSF for ARRIS.

Continue reading “Dealwatch: Pre-Christmas run of real estate and power deals for US and City players”

Deal watch: Slaughters and Kirkland drill into giant $12bn offshore plc merger as Travers and Eversheds maximise L&G’s pensions buy-out

Posted on |
Deal watch: Slaughters and Kirkland drill into giant $12bn offshore plc merger as Travers and Eversheds maximise L&G’s pensions buy-out

Slaughter and May and Kirkland & Ellis have led on the $12bn combination of UK Plc offshore drilling companies Ensco and Rowan Companies as Travers Smith and Eversheds Sutherland wrap up Legal & General’s £2.4bn buyout of Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan.

The drilling merger – an all-stock deal and a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangements – will see the shareholders of Ensco and Rowan own 60.5% and 39.5% respectively of the combined business. Continue reading “Deal watch: Slaughters and Kirkland drill into giant $12bn offshore plc merger as Travers and Eversheds maximise L&G’s pensions buy-out”

Deal round-up: Travers advises Shazam on Apple buyout as Freshfields and Norton Rose strike gold on $18bn mining merger

Posted on |
Deal round-up: Travers advises Shazam on Apple buyout as Freshfields and Norton Rose strike gold on $18bn mining merger

In the latest flurry of deals, Travers Smith has represented popular mobile app Shazam on its buyout by tech giant Apple, while a raft of international firms have benefitted from recent transactional activity.

Shazam, which was founded in 2002, is a song recognition app which can identify what music is playing via a phone’s inbuilt microphone. The deal for Shazam, reportedly worth $400m, will see Apple offer the app on an ad-free basis for all users. Continue reading “Deal round-up: Travers advises Shazam on Apple buyout as Freshfields and Norton Rose strike gold on $18bn mining merger”