DLA Piper, Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance (CC) have all won roles advising on Heineken UK’s proposed £403m acquisition of a portfolio of approximately 1,900 UK pubs owned by Punch Taverns. The beer giant has made a bid for the pubs alongside Patron Capital.
DLA, which has a sole legal adviser mandate with Heineken UK, advised the business on the deal for Punch Securitisation A, which Heineken plans to integrate into its existing Star Pubs & Bars business. DLA’s global co-chair of corporate Bob Bishop led on the deal, alongside corporate partners Mark Chivers and Tim Wright. It is understood it could take approximately six months for the deal to close due to competition clearances.
CC acted for Patron Capital with a team led by corporate partners Lee Coney and David Pearson.
Meanwhile Slaughters acted for Punch Taverns on the acquisition, which is conditional on completion of the recommended cash offer. Corporate partners David Johnson and Murray Cox, alongside finance partner Oliver Storey, advised on the deal. The Magic Circle firm advised Punch Tavern through its £2.3bn capital restructuring which was completed in 2014, two years after it began.
DLA was named sole adviser for the UK arm of global beer and cider producer Heineken in January last year and the relationship is primarily managed by Bishop and DLA partner John McKinlay, who heads up the firm’s Scottish intellectual property and technology practice.
The three year appointment sees DLA acting for Heineken across a broad range of legal work in the UK, including property, litigation, IP, corporate and employment law.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk